


Reborn as a Nara

by Redb4Black



Series: Anastasia [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: A lot of cursing, ANBU Black Ops, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anastasia - Freeform, Fem!OC - Freeform, I mean really, It's so far off it's not canon anymore, Multi, Nara clan - Freeform, OC, OOC, Original Character - Freeform, Self Insert, Slice of Life, Slightly faster, Sparrow and Raven, Strategist, Team 7 - Freeform, Well - Freeform, a lot of unnecessary swearing, but she's just pretending to be cool, but tolerable plot, don't expect good ones, i suck at those, idk - Freeform, of sort, okay idk how to tag, part of a series, probably only seems like a mary sue, profanity overload, she is sort of cool but okay, shitty fight scenes, slow burn?, what is canon even
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-05-08 22:35:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 49,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14703852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redb4Black/pseuds/Redb4Black
Summary: [SI-OC; Reborn into Naruto Fic] [Alternate Universe]There's that kid who sits at the back of the class, there's that kid that is welcomed by all, then there's her, the average kid who is honestly just trying to live a normal life, get married, have kids and die of old age. Done. So she wonders, why did she have to go and die before her time and get reincarnated into a world where having what she wanted was hard? Well, at least her listless atitude won't be judged.





	1. Reincarnation

Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each biological death. It is a complicated aspect of an afterlife that many do not have a belief in or have ever heard of it. Those who do believe, devote religiously to finding out signs of such to prove their belief, no matter how many times they were shot down. Those who don't believe either have another believe or has absolutely no faith in religion, relying on scientifically proven views, theories based on logic and disregarding superstitious followings.

Our friend here is one of them, with her dark hair always up in a tight ponytail, dark brown almost black eyes with dark eye bags and lips always set into either a frown or a smirk, Anastasia never believed in such nonsense. She hardly even considered believing in the biblical view her parents followed, or fate and destiny others do. Of course, she does believe in karma, it's sort of a sick amusement for her too.

Perhaps that was the reason why she was stuck in this situation, she wasn't overly popular, nor was she made out to be an outcast. She was quite average if she says so herself, a few friends, known to have a silver tongue when needed, greedy, selfish and absolutely defensive of herself.

Really, she wasn't the most likeable person, in fact, she's sort of hateful. The first time she genuinely helps someone who isn't an intermediate family, she gets pushed and tumbles down the staircase, snapping her neck and having an instant kill. She remembered cursing, her life flashing by and the face her of a very sick mother.

"ANYA!"

* * *

When she was finally conscious, she was greeted by an uncomfortable of being squeezed through a pipe ten times smaller than her size. As soon as the feeling went away, someone smacked her and she tried to raise her voice to question it, only to take a deep breath harshly as if it was her first time breathing.

There were muffled voices that spoke and Anya found herself grimacing. She lifted her hand, wanting to call out to someone, but found her hand immobilized. Then her mind froze, why was her body not moving? She remembered dying, that's for sure, so where was she— no, something was wrong, something was awfully wrong. Why, did she feel so immobilized? Like, like— no, she was feeling as helpless as a baby. She was a baby, wasn't she? But how? This wasn't scientifically possible unless that somehow they managed to transplant her consciousness into that of a baby... But the uncomfortable feeling of being squeezed through, was she, did she, was she reincarnated!?

No, that was highly illogical, scientifically impossible- however, it seemed to be the only explanation for the exact feeling of helplessness. Unless of course, by some miracle, the human society had discovered a way to tamper with one's consciousness and send her to inhabit a man-made infant body- of course, that was not possible. As she had died, she had to, she felt her body draining of a sort of pull, she felt her whole life flashing before her eyes, she heard the hysteric shout of her nickname from her friend Rhode followed by the blurry form of her friend Theon reaching out towards her, and she had felt the impact hit her before nothing.

She had died.

The next thing she knew, she was sobbing and mind whirling about information that flooded her brain validity. She was aware of the fact that she was somewhere in Japan, she does watch Japanese drama or anime enough to recognize the language and the culture that surrounded her. What seemed to be different was the fact she seemed to be in traditional Japan, feudal Japan in fact, somewhere in the Heian period where Samurai fought and espionages were nicknamed Ninjas.

Her crib was wooden, pure, solid roast wood, and her diapers were all cotton and hand washed by servants day in and out. The house she lived in was with sliding paper doors, smooth wooden floors and people walking in kimonos and yukata. Her mother seemed to be the typical Japanese Nadeshiko with her hair bundled up neatly, nicely gradient makeup and beautiful voice, while her father was a typical warrior man, stern face, long hair and battle kimono.

However, what had been weird was the fact there were electronic devices, instead of candlelit light there were electricity-powered light and moving fans. This confused her on a whole other level. She remembered exactly who had founded electricity, and as far as history recorded it certainly wasn't by the Japanese. Perhaps this was an isolated region- or maybe these were a group of Japanese who took their cultures back to the traditional era.

One day, it finally sunk in, she had died, she definitely did, what bothers her most is the fact she had left her mother behind, her sick, sweet and naive mother all alone at home, no husband, no daughter. It took a total of three months to accept the fact she was never again going home, the fact that this was her new house and her name was no longer Anastasia "Anya" Walker, but it was now Shirayuki Nara.

The first three months of her second life was hell for her new parents, every second she was either staring off unresponsively or wailing uncontrollably, her parents were in an absolute wreck, not knowing what to do, not knowing what was wrong with her. Every doctor they took her too claimed that they had no idea, hell, they even took her to a Medium to see if something was possessing her! But, alas, they came back with negative results.

Shirayuki resigned herself to her fate at last, and the first thing she did was tried to walk. She didn't learn to talk first, she knew she'd pick that up sooner or later, she always had the ability to pick up language fast. Her first word was like anything another child out there, or perhaps most children out there, she had called one of her parents first. However, the thing that was different for as from the others was the way she called out to her father, it wasn't the Tou-chan little girls would call their father, or worse cases Tou-san or maybe even papa, no, it was in such an olden way that the suspicions of an intruder within the compound were high. She had spoken with a straight face, eyes half-lidded and hands by her side with her feet planted on the ground firmly, supporting her weight, "Good morning, Chichi-ue."

Miketsuni Nara had nearly fallen off the chair he had occupied, however, the coffee in his mouth were spewed all over the table, ruining the paper he had been reading. Her mother had been no different, mouth agape and plate slipping from her hands. Shirayuki resisted the urge to smirk before walking over to her mother and taking the plate out of her very much stunned mother. "Haha-ue, you nearly broke the plate. Do be careful."

Her mother turned a brilliant red which seemed to make Shirayuki's inner sadism -inherited from Anastasia, of course- purr in delight. Her mothers splutter of indignation seemed to snap her father out of his stumped moment and have his gaping after her. Shirayuki reached upwards to place the plates on the table much too high for her, even if she was tall for her age. Amused, she turned to her parents and asked as flatly as possible, drawing each syllable of her words, "…Would be having breakfast now, Chichi-ue, Haha-ue?"

Flabbergasted, both of them nodded.

* * *

"Hello, I hear your name is Shirayuki Nara?" A scarred man stared down into the blank eyes of our reincarnated heroine. Said girl gave him an unimpressed, flat look before announcing dryly, "My parents never said it, but I know that a stranger who seemed to know my man without myself introducing is dangerous… are you perhaps into paedophilia?"

The man face faulted before descending into a series of laughter. Shirayuki raised a brow, lips twitching up into a cocky smirk, "Please don't tell me you are certifiably insane too, I would be delighted to direct you to the hospital so they may diagnose you into an asylum."

"You're such a cheeky kid, how old are you, five?" He asked, plopping down on the floor and one leg stretched while the other was knee up to his chest. Shirayuki shook her head a negative, "No, I'm three."

"What?" The unidentified person gaped before tilting his head inquisitively, "Have you taken our IQ test?"

"IQ Test?" Shirayuki furrowed her brows, "No."

The man, who was dubbed by Shirayuki as Unidentified Creepy Person, short is UCP, huffed, "It's no wonder Tsuni asked for me to check on you."

Shirayuki narrowed her eyes, Tsuni? The only 'Tsuni' she knew that knew of her was probably her father whose name was Miketsuni, could it be…? "You know Chichi-ue?"

"…Why, of course," A smirk that mirrored the one Shirayuki gave before slipped onto the older man's face, "I'm his brother, my bratty niece." 

* * *

"Chichi-ue!" Shirayuk called out the moment she arrived home, her cheeks were puffed out and eyes narrowed with a glint that could be found in many of her family. Her surprised father peeked in from their personal garden, sweaty and exhausted, sending his daughter a questioning look, "Yes, Yuki-chan?"

"How come," Shirayuki sniffed, "You have never mentioned a brother."

"Oh, Shika?" Miketsuni chirped, "Shika checked on you already, hasn't he? I asked him to measure your IQ."

"Chichi-ue." came the unamused tone from her three-year-old daughter. Miketsuni laughed sheepishly, hands reaching up to comb through his overly long hair- a habit he had whenever he was nervous. Clearing his throat, Miketsuni looked down at his unamused three-year-old daughter who had her hands crossed across her chest like a demanding boss lady and a perfectly raised right brow that many Nara adopt when they were unimpressed or plainly think you're redundant- Miketsuni was not innocent to wearing that look after all. "It never really came up. Not to mention, Shika was busy as clan head and I was always occupied by the branch head duties."

"Ho?" Shirayuki drawled, a habit she had - Miketsuni realised- when she was amused or interested, "And about the IQ Test?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Miketsuni chirped happily, "Our whole family are geniuses, so there are geniuses among geniuses, so we take the test to see who. Shika has a son who has an IQ over 210, quite the little genius, Shika has an IQ over 250, while mine barely reached over 190. What about yours?"

Shirayuki smirked smugly, "208 and developing."

Miketsuni blinked, "No way."

"Yes," Shirayuki drawled arrogantly, smirk still in place, "Be jealous, Chichi-ue." 

* * *

"208! I'm telling you, she's going to be smarter than Shika's son!" Miketsuni moaned to his wife, bragged about his daughter and ate his dinner. Shirayuki snorted, biting on her fish, she looked at her father, amused, "Chichi-ue, just because I have a 203 IQ does not mean I'll be smarter than whoever my cousin is, apparently, my cousin is 210 and developing."

"Pah, details," Her father waved it off eagerly, "Did you know you are the first Nara woman who achieved such a high IQ since our founder's wife, who only had an IQ of 201 in her prime?"

Shirayuki shrugged, however she does want to meet this cousin of hers. Maybe she'll actually have people in this life aside from her parents who enjoyed boardgames as much as she does, she could always use a game of Go from someone who is behind the computer screen... speaking of her old life, seeing how she was the only person living in this old era from the modern world... why doesn't she make money out of that? She could literally just make up books, such as _Harry Potter_ or _Percy Jackson_ and no one would find out, they'd think it was all her idea, and if the people here were like the people back at home, they'd love these book. Maybe she'll rip off some porn too, from _Fifty Shades of Gray_ perhaps.

Was she above such things? No, she was not.

Her parents stared at their cackling daughter in alarm, what was she thinking now? Miketsuni glanced at his wife and back at his daughter, "Shirayuki?"

Shirayuki snapped out of her thinking and looked at her parents who both had odd looks on their face. Coughing, she raised a brow, "Yes, Chichi-ue, Haha-ue?"

"Are you alright?" Asked her concern mother, Shirayuki smiled lazily, "Oh, I'm more than alright, in fact, I feel splendid."

"Alright then," Her mother trailed off. Miketsuni coughed, "Anyways, Shirayuki, your mother and I were discussing the topic of having you enter the academy, becoming a ninja, so we should start training you."

Shirayuki blinked, she cocked her head to the side and thought, what type of parents trained their three-year-old daughter to be killers. Whatever area she was born in must be quite crazy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Cousin
> 
> Shirayuki blinked as she stared at the face of her cousin... Wait a second, what is this, doesn't he look like the fictional character from Naruto? What was his name again.... Ah, Shikamaru... Na.... Ra.... Fuck.


	2. Cousin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The prospect of reincarnation was delirious enough, reincarnated into a fictional universe? It was taking the cake, never in her life would she had believed in reincarnation- much less into a fictional world.

Shirayuki stated at her parents in disgust from her seat at the dining table as they stared into each other eyes, lost to the outside world. She refrains gagging as they leaned closer to each other. "Oh, honey, you're so pretty."

 _Lord help me,_ Shirayuki prayed, eyes snapping shut to block out the horror instilled by her new set of parents, honestly, which child wanted to see their parents making eyes at each other and making out, disgusting. She hoped her Uncle came over earlier than the promised time, even if she had to deal with whatever kid her cousin could be, she would do anything to be saved from this hell. "Oh honey, I love you more than the stars in the sky."

Fast. Shirayuki whimpered in her mind. Her dark eyes snapped open and stared at her parents whose faces were only an inch apart from each other. She decided, before she was scarred for life, she would remind them of her presence that they had so happened to forget, "... Chichi-ue, Haha-ue, you do realise I'm here right?"

"Ah, Yuki-chan!" Her mother called out, cheeks dusted with a dark shade of red and a hand reaching up to fan herself. Her father flushed a brilliant red and coughed into his hands. "Yuki-chan, are you excited to see your cousin?" 

 _Fuck no,_ Shirayuki gave a blinding smile and lied, "Of course I am!"

Her parents immediately caught on, after all, their daughter never smiles brightly. And her smile looked really forced, Shirayuki has never had a nice force smile, in fact, she wasn't able to smile consciously. It was always the unknown smiles that lit her face up, Miketsuni signed, "Don't be like that, Yuki-chan, I'm sure you'd like Maru-kun."

Shirayuki did not think she would, after all, what can she talked about with another three years old, toys? Does she look like a babysitter to you? Hell, her aunt wouldn't even trust her with her twelve-year-old cousin in her last life, Shirayuki can't be trusted with children. "What am I going talk to him about? Deer?"

"I'm sure he likes to play Go or Shogi," Miketsuni pointed out to his overly mature daughter. Shirayuki barely managed to stop a grimace from making its way upon her face, "Even if he did, I doubt he'd be much of a challenge to me."

"Don't be so arrogant, Yuki-chan," chastised her mother. Shirayuki scowled and turned her nose away, "I have the right to be, even Chichi-ue hasn't beaten me and he's known as one of the best players."

"This is all your fault!" Her mother pointed an accusing spatula at her father who cringed. Her father shuffled away and heaved a sigh, "Troublesome, this is all your fault, Yuki-chan."

"Don't blame me for being the better player, Chichi-ue," Shirayuki snorted into her tea. 

* * *

"This is Shikamaru, Maru-chan this is your cousin Shirayuki," A pretty lady with long brown hair smiled as she gestured towards a speechless Shirayuki. Shirayuki blinked as she stared at the face of her cousin... Wait for a second, what is this, doesn't he look like the fictional character from Naruto? What was his name again... Ah, Shikamaru... Na... Ra... Fuck.

There's no way, it can't be. This was highly illogical, absolutely impossoble— and yet here she was. Shirayuki found herself speechless as she looked at her Uncle's face to her cousins. Hadn't her father told her she was born into a family filled with geniuses? Hadn't her father told her that– well, wasn't the place she was born in filled with espionage and spies? This was not happening, what had she done to her this, she barely managed to cope with the idea of being reincarnated, not being reincarnated into a fictional world? One where people died in wars like accidents in the Bermuda triangle? 

"Yuki-chan?" Shirayuki snapped her head upwards to look at her concerned father, she opened her mouth to speak but before she knew it, she blacked out and fell backwards. She knew, she could recognize the face, unless the fall that day rendered her insane and she was imagining all this in her head, she was true, unbelievably, have been reincarnated into a fictional world thought up by one man's head. 

When she came to be, Shirayuki noticed that she was in her room and her head was buried in the mountain of pillows she had on her bed. Her eyes drifted open, little by little, and was ambushed by a beam of light and worried voices of her mother. "Yuki-chan? What happened? Are you alright?"

Obviously, she wasn't, but Shirayuki remained silent as she sat up with the help of her father. She blinked at the presence of her cousin, uncle and aunt, "Uh, hello. Sorry about before."

"So brat, what happened?" Uncle Shikaku asked, patting how curious son on the head. Shirayuki cringed and faced her parents, "... What would you do if I told you I retained memories of my past life and the sudden attack of memories made me faint?"

"... I would not believe you," Her father frowned. Yeah, she thought so. Shirayuki heaved a sigh and lied through her teeth with a straight face, "It's just... I didn't sleep last night and was up so exhaustion must've caught on."

"What were you doing up?" It was Shika– uh, her cousin who asked. Shirayuki blinked and grinned, "Literature. I was planning a book in my mind and wondering if I should start writing a book."

"Heh, sounds troublesome," Shikamaru commented. Shirayuki shrugged, "Better earn money now so I don't have to work as hard in the future."

"Well, what ate we still doing in my room? I doubt my room is the best place for a family gathering, it's dinky." Shirayuki complained and pushed the blanket off her legs. Her father cuffed her across her head, "Dinky my arse. You seem fine now, aren't ya?"

"Stop being so patronizing, Chichi-ue," Shirayuki mocked, well aware of the audience. Her mother and Shikamaru's mother left for the kitchens to prepare lunch. Her father scowled, "Stop being so troublesome, woman."

Shirayuki felt offended, on a deeply personal level. Annoying she may get, smart she may be but troublesome she wasn't. It was a slight towards her entity, "How dare you even suggest I'm troublesome, stupid old man."

"This stupid old man was the one who made you," Miketsuni scoffed. Shirayuki smirked cockily, "I'm pretty sure you didn't after I'm a girl, which means I have two female genes, no male."

"Smart ass."

"Fat ass."

"Hey!" Miketsuni pointed an accusing finger at his smug daughter, "I have you know I'm very fit." 

"As amusing it is, Tsuni," drawled out her Uncle, "I'm sure everyone is hungry." 

* * *

"Do you play Shogi?" Shikamaru asked as he spotted a Shogi board hidden underneath his cousin's bed. Shirayuki stared at her cousin with an amused look before nodding, "Yeah, I do. Wanna play?"

"Sure." And thus, the rivalry begins. Shikamaru, seated across his cousin whose IQ was only 2 points below his, hands on his chin and eyes furrowed. He snapped his head up and scowled, "I can check you in twelve moves, resign already."

 _Oh hell no_ , Shirayuki frowned back and pointed at her general, " _I_ can check you in seven moves, you resign first."

"Never," Shikamaru muttered before moving his rook. Shirayuki gritted her teeth as the sudden move backed her into a corner. She lit up as she spotted a mistake and moved her poor, unnoticed pawn, "Check."

"Try again," Shikamaru drawled and promote his knight, "Narikei."

"Pah," Shirayuki scoffed, "Useless promotion."

"Oh?" Shikamaru drawled. Our heroine pushed her bishop and smirked, "Ryuma. Beat that, baby cousin."

"We're the same age," Shikamaru clicked his tongue in annoyance. Shirayuki let a nice, beautiful smirk plaster upon her face, "Oh really, _Maru-chan_?"

"Don't call me that!" Shikamaru bit back, annoyance taking to another level. Then a glint appeared in his dark eyes that were oh-so-similar to his cousin. With a smirk, he gave a retort of his own,  "You don't want me to announce how you're known as... _Yuki-chan_ now do you?"

Shirayuki grimaced, yeah she didn't. The name was just disgusting and... so pure sounding. Shirayuki gave two thumbs down to her cousin and huffed, turning away from the board. 

"Well, isn't this cute?"

Both of the three-year-old Nara children snapped their heads towards the opened oak wooden door, eyes glinting with surprise and exasperation, one from seeing the Nara Clan head leaning against the door frame and the later from the game they had been in before. Shirayuki, being the first out of the two of them to snap out of her shock, pursed her lips in contempt.

"I'm not cute, Uncle Shikaku, don't call me cute." Shikaku snorted before walking in, "Of course, whatever you say."

He ignored the look of annoyance both his son and niece sent him. The both of them, son and niece, were so alike that Shikaku was starting to think these two were twins rather than being first cousins. His eyes drifted to the board they had laid out and his eyebrows arched in such a way befitting of a Nara. "Well, what do you know, both of you could play a better game than Tsuni does."

"Chichi-ue sucks," Shirayuki remarked smugly, her eyes gleamed with amusement and triumph, "I beat him in Go two months ago and Shogi three weeks ago."

"Bet you can't beat my dad," Shikamaru snarked, not being able to resist the urge to have done so, "Bet he would have your tyke thrashed within minutes."

"No way, I bet I can last longer than few measly seconds," Shirayuki scowled. Her eyes zeroed on her amused Uncle and rudely pointed her index at him, face scrunched up cutely and dark eyes clouded with competitiveness, Shikaku noted. He smirked lazily as she opened her mouth to declare the words he knew she would utter. "Uncle Shikaku, I challenge you to a Shogi Match!"

"Oho? Bring it, brat."

* * *

In truth, Shirayuki was trying to hide. She was a coward, sure, but it wasn't because she was scared as per say. It was because she thought too much and was terrified of what her thoughts led her to. When her Uncle and family left after dinner, she said her goodnights to her parents before scrambling up the stairs and headed straight for her room, locking herself up. As she seated herself on the bed she had been laying on for the past two years of her new life, her hands reached out to tuck a pillow close towards her tiny body, hugging the item tightly, she did what she did best: Thinking.

_Fact: She was in a Fictional World, reincarnated, but nonetheless in a fictional world._

So, she thought, what was she to do? She knew about Naruto, of course, she did. Who wouldn't? It's like saying you went to Britain without knowing who Her Majesty was or saying you're a Hollywood fan but not know who Robert Downy Junior was. Basically impossible, she watched anime, preferred the manga, but she knew about Naruto. She had even chased after the episodes... of course, she stopped doing so three years before her death.

She's not going to lie, Shirayuki had to admit her memory was shitty. She remembered the protagonist had been Naruto Uzumaki, she knew Sasuke was his teammate and then there was a pink hair girl along with an adult with grey hair. She knew what they look like, name? No, she sucked at those, she was bad with names. She took approximately two years to remember her classmate's names and there had been only 20 of them.

 _Think_ , Shirayuki scolded herself, _Who, What, Where. It's like History lesson. Think and remember._

It helped, First Arc was the painting on the monument. She remembered it, that was chapter one. Second Arc she was blank, was it the whole ice guy Mission? Or had there been something else before that? She knew there was an exam, Chunin Exam, and there had been major shits going down. Oh, and the Sasuke guy received this hickey mark thingy. Gosh, was her memory really this bad? What had happened to Shikamaru though? Gosh, if she had been reincarnated, nevermind the fact she had at all, into the life of a famous person she might have a better chance at things. Oh and Chakra... does that mean she had chakra? Ninjas could walk on water, right?

..

 _If_ _Rhode and Theon were here,_ Shirayuki snorted to herself softly, eyes brimmed with unshed tears and lips curled into a wistful smile, _They'd be calling be Jesus for walking on water._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Academy
> 
> Shirayuki cringed at the loud declaration made by the blonde who had taken the seat in front her cousin and her. She forgot, or perhaps she had been repressing such memories, but unfortunately for her Naruto Uzumaki was a loud kid and he was in their class. Lord bless her because she swore if the kid shouted once more about ramen and being Hokage- or that god-forsaken verbal tic, she will snap. Hard.


	3. Academy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirayuki was shipped off to join idiots and morons alike in the academy. No, she doesn't care if idiots and morons are the same things.

It wasn't as if she didn't want to be a Ninja... alright, you got it, she didn't. Shirayuki wanted nothing to do with the war that's about to happen, she really didn't, but the thing was, who was she to play God? Who was she to decide on withholding such information to help people who would die? She had retained memories of her past life for a reason or maybe she had been so significant that whatever God who put her through reincarnation had forgotten to abolish her memories- regardless, that was then and this was now. Shirayuki breathed in, tiny hand clenched by her side and plopped down on her bed, well, no one said she couldn't enjoy life even if she was reincarnated into a world such as this.

"Yuki-chan! You're going to be late for the orientation if you don't get up," her mother called out from downstairs. Shirayuki clicked her tongue before rolling on her bed, her eyes gazed lazily at the clock that perched on the table beside her bed. "There's half an hour, does she want me to be really early or something?"

"Shirayuki Nara, you better get down this instance!"

Shirayuki winced and rolled off the bed, "Coming, Haha-ue."

Our resident reincarnated heroine walked out of her room with a change of clothes and towel hung around her neck. She was turning five in a few more months, entering the Academy today because of her parents' insistence. 

* * *

It was more than she imagined, there were children left and right, up and down— everywhere. When Shirayuki had been enrolled into the Academy, she thought there would've been only around the number of people she remembered seeing in the class, but there was much more than she imagined, faces she didn't recognize, faces she knew and of course there was Shikamaru. 

"Shika," Shirayuki greeted, falling into step with her cousin. Her cousin grunted, "Yuki", before leaning his frame against hers, she had always been abnormally tall for her age, being around 130cm tall, she towered over most children her age who were 100-120cm tall. Shikamaru found this really useful, as such, he took every chance possible to lean against her when he was too lazy to stand on his own. 

"Congratulations on your acceptance into the Academy, everyone!" Shirayuki turned her head to look at Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, he stood on top of a short makeshift podium. She moved her shoulder a little to jolt her younger by two months cousin awake, ignoring his pointed look, her attention went back to their Village Leader. The old man gave a wide smile to all the chattering children, but deep down within his heart, he knew that these were children who would one day be his pawn to guide, whether he liked it or not. And that thought made him feel awful.

Shirayuki hummed, eyes taking note of her leader's hand, she saw how his hand kept fiddling his ring and how his eyes avoided looking at nay parents who stood behind them. It showed guilt, but Shirayuki wonder what could Sandaime possibly feel guilty about? Before she could continue on with her turmoil, her thoughts were cut off by the continuation of speech, "From hence day forth, all of you should work hard to achieve your goal as a proud Shinobi of Konoha."

Shirayuki clapped politely as the Hokage stepped down from the podium. She could hear a yawn by her side and realised it was her cousin, clicking her tongue, she elbowed him in his stomach, "You better wake up or I'll tell Yoshino-obaa-san."

"Troublesome girl, shut up," Shikamaru scowled, standing up straight. A smug Shirayuki sent a smirk at her cousin before promptly grimacing when her name was called up to attend her assigned class. Ignoring the snickers of her infuriating cousin, Shirayuki walked up to her teacher with her hand stuffed into her pockets, "Yo."

"Shirayuki Nara? Right, enter the class to the very right, 1-1." A girl with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes smiled down at her, "I'm Shiori Yamanaka, your counsellor, if there's any problem, do come to me for help."

"Alright," Shirayuki yawned before walking down the noisy hallway. She slid opened the door and scowled at all the expectant look of her classmates, to her luck she managed to recognise most of them, to her dismay, however, all of them were actual children. Kids, how was she going to cope with having to share classes with such people, absolutely annoying.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" A girl with short blonde hair and mint green eyes. Shirayuki felt her eye twitch as the looks of all her other classmates shot to her with curiosity, why does she need to introduce herself? It was exhausting and annoying, "Troublesome... My name is Shirayuki Nara."

And she sat down in the front row, not bothering to climb up the stairs, and laid her head on the table. Fuck these kids, she's got better things to do, like catching up her sleep she forfeited in order to make it to the academy. As soon as she closed her eyes, she heard muttering around her and someone commenting "She's weird.", Shirayuki groaned and flipped her middle finger like they knew what it meant. So, she was crass? Sue her.

* * *

"I'm sure many of you learned the fundamental concept of Ninjutsu, however, for the sake of those who haven't we would be going through all the basics," Their teacher, someone who Shirayuki recognise, was Iruka Umino, he had tanned skin, brown eyes a scar across his nose and a hideous hairstyle that matched her cousin's. Our resident lazy heroine placed her head on her right palm and looked at the teacher with lidded eyes, her lips curled into a frown and brain elsewhere.

Iruka Umino, right, he was like the dude Naruto saw as a father right? So this person was most likely really important. Shirayuki scanned the faces of her classmates, hm, she recognised most of them, alright, Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka, Sakura was a name she just remembered, huh, where the fat guy Shikamaru would hang out with- oh there he was, what was his name again? Shirayuki was aware he was an Akimichi, you've got to be living under a well if you were a Nara and didn't know how to spot an Akimichi and a Yamanaka.

"What are you looking at now?" Her cousin whispered, Shirayuki laid her head on her right side and leaned closer to her cousin, "Wondering about how troublesome our classmates would be."

She wasn't lying as per say, she knew that these classmates of hers were crazy and they were major shits in the anime so Shirayuki wasn't shitting her cousin when she said they were troublesome.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen and my dreams for the future is to be the Hokage!" Shirayuki cringed and stared in horror as she finally realised who was her second seatmate, blonde hair, tanned skin, bright blue eyes and whiskered cheek, it was none other than the bloody protagonist of the show, Naruto fucking Uzumaki. ' _Oh my God, I'm going to die early, I just know it.'_

"Sit down, Uzumaki!" Iruka-sensei shouted and heaved a sigh, "Next."

Shirayuki wanted nothing more but to walk out of the classroom as she saw that every face turned to her. "Troublesome, My name is Shirayuki Nara."

"Uh, Shirayuki-chan, anything else you'd like to share?" Iruka-sensei broke the awkward silence by trailing off into an uncertain chuckle. Shirayuki raised a brow, her face right now was something Iruka was very much acquainted with. All Nara had that face when they think you just asked a very stupid question. Shirayuki snorted and turned away, "No."

"Right... uh, next."

* * *

Shirayuki cringed at the loud declaration made by the blonde who had taken the seat in front her cousin and her. She forgot, or perhaps she had been repressing such memories, but unfortunately for her Naruto Uzumaki was a loud kid and he was in their class. Lord bless her because she swore if the kid shouted once more about ramen and being Hokage- or that godforsaken verbal tic, she will snap. Hard.

"Uzumaki, shut up." Shirayuki commented, hand around her head, "You're too loud."

"Oh, sorry..." Naruto frowned and slumped in his seat. Shirayuki genuinely has no idea why was the blonde insistent on sitting beside her even when there was a lot of other seats he could sit at. Even her cousin took the time to shuffle around the seats in the class, out of everyone, only Shirayuki had not bothered to shuffle her seating arrangement and it seemed Naruto followed suit.

"Uzumaki, why do you sit beside me?" Shirayuki asked it wasn't as if she hated the blonde, she just felt a little uncomfortable around him. Naruto stiffened before turning his eyes towards his seatmate for the last five months, she had her head laid over her arms which were crossed on top of the table, Naruto thought Shirayuki looked really bored at the moment with her half-lidded eyes and messy hair. "Well?"

Naruto snapped out of it when the only girl who seemed to never glare at him asked once more. He grinned, "Cause you're really nice to me!"

Shirayuki nearly choked, her? Nice? Jesus, this boy was delusional. The Nara Genius scowled and closed her eyes, "I'm not nice."

"You are!"

"Shut up, Uzumaki." 

* * *

"Alright, class! Today we'd be starting the exams, line up and you would be tested on your Taijutsu today." Shirayuki grimaced and walked to the back of the class, all the way at the back of the crowd. She froze, however, when the first name uttered from her teacher's mouth was "Shirayuki Nara!"

Shirayuki clicked her tongue and stalked up to the front, "Why am I the first to go? If this is because I'm a girl, I swear I'll riot" muttering under her breath. The genius stood with her hands in her pocket, bored, and impatiently waited for her opponent's name to be announced. Her feet tapped rhythmically on the ground and her mouth opened in a yawn, hands reaching out to cover it. "Ino Yamanaka!"

Shirayuki smirked, oh it's the annoying blonde number two.

"Hah! Wait until I pulverise you, Nara!" Ino grinned, her growing hair falling after her and stomped over. Shirayuki raised a hand and flipped out her finger, her finger beckoned her, taunting the blonde, as a languid smirk made it's way onto her face, "Ooh, I'm shaking in my sandals, blondie."

"Go! Go! Yuki-chan!" Shirayuki scowled, it seems Naruto caught onto the fact Shikamaru called her that and decided it was a cute nickname, as a result, she was being called 'Yuki-chan' non-stop by him. She could even hear her cousin snickering at the name. "Naruto, don't call me that and _Maru-chan_ shut up."

"Troublesome..."

"You will be graded upon ten for speed, fatality and technique. No Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, understand?" Iruka-sensei cut in. Shirayuki nodded as did Ino. Both girls looked at each other, one with a glare and the other a smirk. "3, 2, 1 Go!"

Shirayuki stepped back immediately, the other girl was much slower than her father and had absolutely no strategy. Narrowing her eyes, our heroine watched as the blonde had her eyes flickering to their class heartthrob continuously and back to her. It seems Ino wanted to impress her crush, much. Shirayuki wanted to snort, they were six for fucks sakes and this girl was taking her eyes off an opponent just to see whether or not her crush was interested in her. This causes her many mistakes.

_Mistake 1_ , the girl had extremely long hair like Shirayuki, however, she did not know how to fight with it. Shirayuki somersaulted over the blonde and landed behind her, she tucked the tied hair and dragged the girl down.

_Mistake 2,_ she constantly took her eye off her opponent. Shirayuki kicked the back of her knees and pushed Ino to the ground. Her hands reached out and immobilised both the blonde's arm by holding them behind her back.

_Mistake 3,_ she always left her back unguarded. The Nara girl held her hand in a chopping motion and got close to her nape. She snapped her head up and face faulted at her dumbfounded teacher, was it that hard to believe she could fight? Her father was a dick through and through the moment she was accepted into the academy, every day she was forced to study 2 hours of the clan's technique before it was stamina training.

"I believe the spar is over, Iruka-sensei," she drawled, letting the blonde go so fast as if the other girl was toxic. Iruka gave her a wide smile, "Great job, Shirayuki."

Shirayuki shrugged and walked away, standing in between her cousin and a babbling Naruto. Shirayuki snorted as he continued explaining her spar as if it was the greatest thing ever⎯ "You were like pah pew and she was like ah ee!"⎯ while her cousin stared at her, "Why ya did so good on this? I would've thought you're going to score an average like the written test but you most likely aced it."

Shirayuki deadpanned, "I'm planning to sleep through Genjutsu test, scoring zero so by the end of the exams I would most likely get an average mark."

"Ah." 

* * *

"What's this I hear about getting a zero in Genjutsu test! Shirayuki Nara, you better explain yourself right now or so help me I will ground you for life!" Shirayuki cringed away from her fuming, roaring mother and edged closer to her father who gave her an amused and knowing look. Shirayuki scowled, "I slipped and failed."

"I tested you before and you were perfectly capable!" Her mother slammed her hands on the table and glared at her daughter. Shirayuki winced and waved her hand, "It was a careless mistake."

"Oh? What careless mistake could possibly land you a zero in the test, young lady!" Her mother had her arms crossed and a scowl marring her beautiful face. Shirayuki grimaced, "Uh..."

"You better score well or so help me you're grounded."

"Yes, ma'am." 

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Shirayuki glanced up, there was a boy with long hair and blank eyes. _Hyuuga_ , her mind supplied. She thought he looked familiar but then again all Hyuuga looked familiar, just like how all Uchiha had nearly the exact same face. Shirayuki tucked her head back down from the strain and stared up at the cloud filled sky, "Relaxing."

"Do you not practice any Katas?" The boy asked as if he found anything relaxing incredulous. Shirayuki scoffed, "Does it look like I'm out of shape? I just need time to relax."

"Oh." If the Hyuuga joined her quietly, Shirayuki said nothing. Everyone needed some time off and the boy looked so constipated that he should actually rest. Wasn't he around her age, six or something? Shirayuki closed her eyes and tucked both her hands under her head to serve as a pillow.

That day, a friendship was formed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: 
> 
> "Naruto Uzumaki, Shirayuki Nara and Sasuke Uchiha, you three would be placed on Team 7," Iruka-sensei read out. Shirayuki choked and fell off her seat in shock, "Excuse me? Why am I on that team?"
> 
> "Because Sasuke is Top Shinobi of the Year, Naruto is dead last and you, Shirayuki, somehow managed to score so average on every field that we decided to place you in their team to balance it out," Iruka-sensei explained. Shirayuki gaped, "Why not have Kunoichi of the Year to be on their team? Wouldn't that be better?"
> 
> "Of course not," Fuck, fuck, fuck, this was not well, not well at all. This wasn't what's supposed to be, this was not supposed to happen, she was not supposed to be on this team. Did she piss off someone in her past life... wait, don't answer that. Shirayuki groaned and slammed her head on the table, this was going to be hell for her, she just knew it.


	4. Culpability

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just because she didn't help, doesn't mean she doesn't care. Just because it slipped her mind, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Not more than once she would remind herself- She had absolutely no rights to play God.

"Holy fuck! Dude! What's stuck up your ass now?" Shirayuki ran her uncouth mouth as she narrowly ducked a blow aimed for her waist, the other was a Hyuuga and she didn't enjoy being immobilized with her chakra pathways cut off, thank you very much. 

Her partner, a boy of 8, was none other than her friend for more than a year, he had long brown hair and blank lavender irises. Everything about the boy screamed that he was Hyuuga ad his bandaged head indicates he was a branch member and not a privileged Main House member. Neji Hyuuga was said boy, as he stared at the bristling form of his only female friend –practically his only friend too– he clicked his tongue and turned his nose away, "Don't blame me for being slow, Shirayuki."

"Fuck  _you_ ," Shirayuki spat back, getting onto her two feet after she had fallen. She was turning seven! Barely even qualify as a seven-year-old, still, six, and this stupid son of a bitch decided to aim for all the fatal spot with his fucking Jyuuken. Sighing, Shirayuki plopped down on the ground, "Whatever, I resign." 

"You're so uncouth, it's unbecoming for a lady such as yourself," Neji commented, taking a seat beside his friend. Shirayuki scowled, "I'm only 6, I have the right to be unladylike, you asshole."

Neji scoffed, "Because you're 6, that makes it even worse that you're this uncouth."

"Whatever, I have you be lady-like for me." Shirayuki yawned, tucking her head above her crossed arms. "So, what got you so pissed off today? Did your lover run away? Did your crush reject you? Found out about your sexualit—"

"None of those," Neji injected before his friend could come up with any more stupid and embarrassing excuses. He tilted his head up to gaze at the clear blue sky, "There are no clouds today."

"I'm aware, Captain Obvious," Shirayuki snarked, "And don't avoid the question."

Her Hyuuga friend heaved a sighed. 

"I was merely dreaming of my father before I woke up this morning," Neji explained, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Shirayuki hummed and commented insensitively, "Hyuuga Affair?"

The boy stilled and nodded stiffly. Shirayuki glanced at her friend, he had his fists clenched and unshed tears in his hate-filled eyes. She reached a handout and patted him on the shoulder, realizing she sat up as they breached a more sensitive topic. Neji sniffed and buried his head in his hands, "I miss him..." 

Shirayuki said nothing, Neji didn't need her shit right now, he needs comfort. 

* * *

Shirayuki sat down at the corner of the store, lips curled up into a beautiful smile and eyes fixed on the snack she bought for herself– Daifuku. Ever since arriving in this new world, as soon as she was allowed to have actual food, Shirayuki fell in love with the one snack named Daifuku. 

"Do you mind if I sat here?" Shirayuki snapped her head up, mouth half buried in the giant Daifuku she bought. She saw a classmate of hers, Sasuke Uchiha and an older person who looked like her classmate. Sasuke seemed to protest and fidget as she fixed her sharp eyes on him, shrugging, Shirayuki responded, "Go ahead."

"Thank you," The older Uchiha dipped his head, "Sasuke, you wait here for a moment."

Sasuke nodded, "Okay, Nii-san."

Shirayuki stared at her classmate as she ate, enjoying how he kept on fidgeting as she looked at her. Sasuke swallowed, "Uh... Shirayuki, why are you staring at me?"

Shirayuki snorted, "I'm wondering about your hairstyle, is it natural? It looks like the backside of a duck."

It took a moment for Chibi Sasuke to understand and the way his face flushed with indignation made Shirayuki dissolve into peals of laughter. "You should have seen your face."

"It is not the backside of a duck! It's normal, thank you very much." Sasuke puffed his cheek out. Shirayuki allowed a smirk to make its way on to her face, "Of course, keep telling yourself that." 

"Nii-san!" Sasuke perked up as his brother came into view. Shirayuki tilted her head, swallowing the last of her sweet delight, "Hello."

"Hello," the older Uchiha returned easily, "I'm Itachi Uchiha." 

Shirayuki blanched, alright, she finally knew why the other was so familiar. She remembered that name alright and now that she remembered just who the hell is Itachi Uchiha, she remembered something else, the Uchiha Massacre. 

"... Nice to meet you, I'm Shirayuki Nara." Shirayuki responded, unsure what to make of the situation. 

* * *

"Tadaima, Haha-ue," Shirayuki called out, taking off her sandals to place it on the shoe rack. She heard a distant "Okaeri!" from her mother, meaning her mother was most likely in the kitchen. Her feet allowed her nose to take lead for once as a whiff of curry hit her nose. Her whole body, bruised and sweaty, glided into the aroma filled kitchen. "Curry, Haha-ue?"

"Your favourite, Shirayuki," Her mother confirmed. Shirayuki lifted her lips into a cute smile that usually does not adore her beautiful face and lingered beside her very much amused mother. Shinako Nara, the woman who gave birth to our _lovely_ heroine giggled at her star-struck daughter. Weirdly, her daughter had taken a liking towards curry as much as she adored Daifuku, "Yuki-chan, why don't you go and set up the table, your father isn't home yet."

"Hai, haha-ue," Shirayuki climbed the small wooden stool, even if she was tall for her age she was still short, to reach for the culteries cabinet that was located high up above the kitchen bar. In her hands were three white ceramic plates and utensils to accompany them coated in bronze. Shirayuki laid them on the table, humming happily under her breath as she envisioned herself consuming the tasty curry her mother made.

"Tadaima!" Miketsuni called out, stretching his arms above his head, he walked into the kitchen and stared at his star-struck daughter. It took one sniff and he knew that his wife had decided to cook curry. "Okaeri, anata."

"Okaeri, Chichi-ue," Shirayuki greeted, sitting down on the table, waiting to be served her favourite food. Shinako giggled and scooped rice into her daughter's plate before a ladle of curry. Shirayuki grinned, truly, she couldn't have been more lucky to be blessed with such a good family, unlike her family from her previous life. In her life as Anastasia, Anya had been subjected to hard work ever since she was young. Her mother was a university drop out after Anya's grandparents passed away and left her mother without any money to support her. And then there was her bastard of a father who was nothing more than a sperm donor in her last life, the man just up and left with a divorce paper laid out the moment Anya's mother announced that she was pregnant.

Then her mother had to work multiple jobs a day and balance it with taking care of a baby. No diploma, no family, her mother was a saint to have turned out the way she did. When Anya was about to graduate high school, her father appeared opening up a custody battle all because Anya managed to earn a living for both her mother and herself, and still have enough to spare them another year. Stupid fucker, Anya shut the piece of shit down before it even started.

And the moment she entered university, her beautiful and kind mother was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Without sufficient money, Anya was unable to pay for the treatment, thus leaving her paralysing mother without a cure. Every day, Anya would ask if she should quit university to work off and pay for the treatment and everytime her mother found out about that thinking, Anya was subjected to lectures of her mother. And then the day came where she was pushed down the stairs and died, thinking back, Anya, now Shirayuki, always wondered how was her mother in her first life doing, was she alright? Did she get well? Did she pass on?

"Yuki-chan?" Shirayuki snapped her eyes up and smiled, "It's nothing Haha-ue, don't worry."

* * *

Shirayuki sat on the grass as she looked down at the pages scattered before her, she finally managed to recreate Harry Potter of the Ninja World version. The most difficult was trying to find a suitable name and one of prestige. She started off with Harry Potter, one with an equivalent name, Harry was someone whose name was used often by royalty so Shirayuki went digging for names and finally decided on the historical name of the younger brother of Madara Uchiha, which she found to be Izuna. Next, she had to find a prestige last name for the character. The days went on and on as she jolted down plot points of the story as well as trying to come up with names for Hermione, Ronald and such. Finding a name for Voldermort was hilarious, Tom Riddle had been much easier to replace with, the problem had been the name Voldemort.

"Shirayuki, what are you doing?" Shirayuki snapped her head back in a sense of Deja Vu and let a small smirk slip onto her face, "Yo, Neji. I'm writing a book, or well, jolting out the plot points."

"A book?" Neji question inquisitively, his friend always had the most creative imagination. If his friend were to write a book, Neji was somehow intrigued by it. He took a seat beside Shirayuki and peered at the scattered paper laid out on the grass, each with something on top to stop the wind from blowing away. "What is it about?"

"Magic," Shirayuki smirked, "An entire society hidden, away from civilians, away from Ninja, covered by a barrier so strong and suppressed with Chakra seals. Then it centres around a prophesied boy named Izuna Hirohito who was said to be destined to fight against an evil overlord."

"Izuna Hirohito?" Neji tested the name, "Huh, a strong name for the main character."

"It's needed." Shirayuki snorted. Neji nodded and turned to his friend with a serious look, "May I have the pleasure of being the first to read if you ever finish it?"

Shirayuki blinked, unsure why her friend wanted to read her book. He never showed any indication that he liked to read, much less a book written by a six-year-old. But then again, both of them were still children. "Uh, sure."

"Thank you."

* * *

It was several months later when Shirayuki felt fear like no other once more, the last time she felt this scared was when she received a call in her last life saying her mother was in the hospital. Shirayuki sat in her usual seat, frozen, _the Uchiha Massacre happened yesterday_. The words repeated over and over again in her brain, she no longer saw any children with the facial structure like those Uchiha running down the hallways, no more police force walking, patrolling, no more Uchiha mothers talking, no fathers drinking, no children, no toddler.

Shirayuki couldn't breathe. This was her fault, she had the knowledge to stop it but she didn't reach out and help. Lives, hundreds, thousands, all slaughtered because of her stupidity, _these weren't fictional characters anymore, fucking idiot_ , _wake up!_

"Yuki-chan?" Naruto, bless his soul how had he manage to grow up the way he did and turn out this way, shook Shirayuki's shoulder lightly. He wasn't the only one looking at her with concern, Shikamaru was by her side, trying to hit her awake. Shirayuki forced a smile, but before she was able to, she blacked out just as she did a few years ago when she first met her cousin.

_This was all her fault, all her fault._

* * *

_Dead, dead, your fault, your fault, dead, all because of you, dead, all, your, fault!_ Shirayuki shot up in her bed, panting, her hair sticking to her sweaty and sticky forehead, eyes wide and hysterical. Our overwhelmed protagonist snapped her eyes shut, _shut up!_ and an ear piercing scream ripped out of her throat, alerting everyone and anyone within hearing range and further from her room. Shirayuki shook in her spot, her eyes filled with the scene she remembered from the anime, _blood, blood, blood_ , she was standing, a hand, blood, more blood, screams, cries, blood.

"We need to sedate her!"

_Her fault, all her fault, death, blood, all her fault._

"Shirayuki, darling, listen to mama, come on!"

_You let them die, you're at fault, you're to blame._

"Nara-san, we need you to step out."

_All your fault, you're to blame! Suffer! Suffer! Die!_

* * *

"Did you hear? The Nara girl, the one with a really high IQ, was in hysteria after hearing about the news of the Massacre."

"What? No way, really?"

"And they say she loved one of the Uchiha so much that she couldn't bear the pain."

"Isn't she only seven? Children these days."

"I know right?"

"Hey don't say that she probably has a really close friend."

"Really? I heard that she witness the massacre happening and the situation hit her only later on."

"I can't believe it..."

Shikamaru walked down the streets listening to busybodies gossiping about his cousin. His fist clenched and eyes narrowed in worry, head spinning a thousand theoretical thoughts or ecal scenarios. What had made his cousin that way? What had caused his cousin to collapse and break into hysteria? 

"Are you Shikamaru Nara?" Shikamaru turned and looked at a male Hyuuga who had a grim face. Shikamaru tilted his head in acknowledgement. The boy stared at him and demanded, "What happened to Shirayuki?"

"What's is to you, Hyuuga?" Shikamaru scowled at the demanding boy. Who was this boy to question anything about his cousin? 

"I am Shirayuki's..." The boy hesitated, "I'm her friend. I heard she was forced into a coma and was concerned about her." 

"... Come with me, I'll explain at the hospital."

* * *

Shirayuki woke up and stayed in her spot, her mind repeating one word over and over again, it went through her mind non-stop and the scene from the anime, only even more prominent, even more detailed. "My fault, this is my stupidity, this is my fault."

"Shirayuki?" Shirayuki sat up and turned her head to the door hair a mess, her eyes filled with guilt, burden, horror and hysteria. Neji was stunned at the vulnerable appearance of his usually confident and cocky friend, she looked visibly shaken by whatever she saw. 

Shikamaru stalked over immediately and helped his cousin up, "Are you okay, Yuki?"

"Shikamaru..." Shirayuki broke into sobs, "It's my fault, it's all my fault. I could've stopped it, it was my fault."

Shikamaru rubbed his cousin's back comfortingly, feeling confused. Her fault? His cousin could not possibly be thinking the Uchiha Massacre was her fault, she wasn't anywhere near it— hell, she hasn't even talked to any Uchiha outside of Sasuke and even then it was limited. 

"Should I leave?" Neji shuffled his feet awkwardly, feeling as if he was intruding on a personal moment. Shikamaru shrugged, "Doesn't matter to us."

* * *

It took three months before Shirayuki was allowed to leave, she had been placed under severe psychiatric treatment. The psyche finally deemed her suitable to leave and Shirayuki was even more withdrawn that she had been before, this time it was more obvious.

Previously, she defected questions easily by asking another. This time, she doesn't outright make friends, the only people she interacted with was Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji and occasionally when partnered up Shino. She hardly talked to Ino and Sakura, but she was much more civil with them and much more friendly with Hinata. 

On every exam, she manages to score half mark for every portion and get an average of average, being in the middle of class no matter what other people said. Sure she still had personality in her, she wasn't dead as per say but anyone who knew her properly knew that Shirayukii changed. 

Then came team placement, Shirayuki sat beside Naruto as usual, but this time around, she had taken a seat beside Sasuke who looked oddly relieved. Shirayuki wrote in her book, continuing her story about her version of Harry Potter. 

Sasuke and Naruto who both took seats by her kept flickering their eyes over to her book, one more discreetly than the other. Both curious as to what the female who sat between them was working on. Then Naruto decided to voice out the question which has been running through both their minds. 

"Yuki-chan, what are you working on?" 

"A book," Shirayuki answered without looking up from her manuscript. Naruto blinked, as did Sasuke internally, and questioned with a slight bit of incredulity,"A book?"

"Yeah, a book."

"O–" "Good morning, class!" Iruka-sensei walked in with a loud greeting, cutting off whatever Naruto was about to say. Shirayuki kept her book into the pouch she had attached to her hips and tuned in. Huh, she just realised she didn't see the legendary kissing scene between Naruto and Sasuke, had she missed it? She was sure such a big commotion would have snapped her out of her book odyssey. "Congratulations on passing, class. Today you will be assigned to your various teams, each team would balance it out with individual strengths that would flourish each of you into fine Shinobi one day."

"What are we Kunoichi, chopped liver?" Shirayuki muttered under her breath, laying her head on the table. Naruto who heard her clearly snickered his breath. If Sasuke's lips twitched up a little, no one noticed it comment about said twitch. Iruka-sensei gave a wide smile, "Now lets announced the team. Due to still active teams, we will only begin with Team 7."

Shirayuki supported her head on the table with the help of her chin, she knew exactly who was going to be on the team. What she wanted to know was what team she would be on- however, her thoughts were cut off by the most unexpected news.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Shirayuki Nara and Sasuke Uchiha, you three would be placed on Team 7," Iruka-sensei read out. Shirayuki choked and fell off her seat in shock, "Excuse me? Why am I on that team?"

"Because Sasuke is Top Shinobi of the Year, Naruto is dead last and you, Shirayuki, somehow managed to score so average on every field that we decided to place you in their team to balance it out," Iruka-sensei explained. Shirayuki gaped, "Why not have Kunoichi of the Year to be on their team? Wouldn't that be better?"

"Of course not," Fuck, fuck, fuck, this was not well, not well at all. This wasn't what's supposed to be, this was not supposed to happen, she was not supposed to be on this team. Did she piss off someone in her past life... wait, don't answer that. Shirayuki groaned and slammed her head on the table, this was going to be hell for her, she just knew it. "The Kunoichi of the Year would merely overload the team, we need a balanced team and as such Team 7 is trained as balanced overalls, not a tank team."

_Fuckery fuck fuck fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:
> 
> "Let's see... my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. My dreams for the future... huh, never really thought about it. As for hobbies, let's see, I have a lot." Kakashi finished his introduction with a snap of his orange porn and a nice closed eye smile to boot. Shirayuki felt an urge to punch her teacher for some odd reason.
> 
> Naruto gaped at his newly assigned teacher incredulously and huffed, "So all we learned was his name?"
> 
> Shirayuki rolled her eyes, "Oh for fuck's sakes, no-" "Language, Shirayuki." "Shut up, sensei."


	5. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the incident gone and done, Shirayuki is left to muse her decisions. What was she to do?

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference. Everyone feels empathy to a certain extent unless an incident happens which results in the lack of emphatic feeling, as empathy is also the ability to feel and share another person's emotions. When Shirayuki broke those years ago under the burden of possessing knowledge beyond her limit, her ability to empathize with someone died and broke away, her emotions were on still and she began to find things easier to just ignore- this resulted in her current state of the lacking of empathy; that doesn't mean she's emotionless, in fact, Shirayuki reached a point where she allowed herself to be swayed by the understanding of profiling.

As she laid under the tree, relishing in the feeling of warm breeze kissing her cheeks, her mind wandered over to the sight of blood that plague her mind, no longer was she burdened by the guilt that came as now she was flooded with emotions of nonchalance. Her eyelids felt heavy as she drifted into a sleep, tuning out the chaotic world, trying to forget the horrible reality that awaits her each time she awoke. She felt someone taking a seat beside her, before said person laid down and shifted closer to her, warmth sharing between the two of them. Shirayuki didn't need a sixth sense or anything to realise that the person who laid down beside her was her equally lazy cousin. 

"Aren't you supposed to be with Ino?" Shirayuki asked, eyes still closed. She heard a groan before an irritated reply responded to her, "Aren't you supposed to be with Sasuke and Naruto?"

"Touché," Shirayuki cocked her head, leaning closer to her cousin, "Hm, you're warm."

"Troublesome woman..." Shikamaru muttered, "Lunch is almost over, you've got to meet your sensei soon."

"Whatever."

* * *

Her fingers drummed against the wooden table in a rhythmic sequence, never once breaking formation, large brown eyes flickering from between her teammates, the door and clock. Her eyes strayed and fixed on the ticking hand of the clock, watching as time ticked away and the absence of her new teacher becoming as clear as his tardiness. Shirayuki couldn't care less sometimes on the matter of tardiness, it doesn't mean she loved it either, call it neutral if one must.

"What are you doing?" A deep, smooth voice, reminding her of Theon who had the silkiest voice she heard in her last life, called out. Shirayuki shifted slightly so she was able to witness what was about to happen clearly. Naruto had a duster in his hands and a wide grin plastered across his tan face, stretching from one cheek to another. The person who spoke, your royal stick up my ass Uchiha majesty, was looking at Naruto with a raised brow, if one were to pay more attention they would see the slight twitch on his right eye and a downwards tilt of his lips, unfortunately for him, Shirayuki was someone who paid attention to such details, minor or not, and knew the dark-haired male was in disbelief and knowing.

"It's what he gets for being late," Naruto grumbled under his breath, balancing on a chai place the duster between the gap of the wall and sliding door. Shirayuki snorted before laying her head down, closing her eyes to take a short nap. Her mind requires a large amount of rest in order to not overdrive her neurons. That was one thing about the Nara Clan she learned, they don't sleep because they are lazy as per say, it is a requirement. The higher your IQ, the more amount of sleep you require, the mind of a Nara utilizes itself up to 10-15% of their brain, significantly more than an average person. Shirayuki remembered that dolphins were able to use up to 20% of their brain, and that gave them the ability to have ultra-sound, similarly, Nara developed the ability to manipulate shadows.

"You're sleeping again," The tone sounded so accusing that Shirayuki wanted nothing but to punch the Rookie of the Year in the face. She flipped him off and snuggled deeper into the warmth provided by her arms. Absently, she decided that her cousin make a really warm provider.

Unfortunately, before she was able to allow Hypnos to put her to sleep, the door slid open and a boisterous laughter echoed throughout the quiet room. Shirayuki clicked her tongue and lifted her head up reluctantly from her arms, eyes fixed into an annoyed glare at their teacher. He was tall, had grey hair and extremely dangerous. No harmless Shinobi is able to walk while reading without the need of looking around, moreover, his posture indicates that he was ready for an attack at any moment, even if his book was in his right hand, his left hand was right beside a pouch that hung by his hips.

"Hm... what to say, right, my first impression is that I absolutely loathe all of you, meet me at the rooftop," He drawled out before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Shirayuki yawned and muttered, "Troublesome..." 

* * *

"Welcome up," Kakashi greeted blandly, boredom clearly displayed on his face even if most of it was covered. All three of them gave their sensei an annoyed look. Shirayuki slumped down on a step, sitting in between two boys. She leaned against Naruto and rested her weight on his. All of them looked at their teacher expectantly, "Alright, now, introduce yourself."

"Uh, about what?" Shirayuki commented dryly. Kakashi shrugged, "The basics, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies."

 _Information gathering_ , Shirayuki concluded, oh two can play that game. "Hm, why don't you go first, _sensei_?"

"Let's see... my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. My dreams for the future... huh, never really thought about it. As for hobbies, let's see, I have a lot." Kakashi finished his introduction with a snap of his orange porn and a nice closed _eye_ smile to boot. Shirayuki felt an urge to punch her teacher for _some odd_ reason.

Naruto gaped at his newly assigned teacher incredulously and huffed, "So all we learned was his name?"

Shirayuki rolled her eyes, "Oh for fuck's sakes, no-" " _Language, Shirayuki."_ "Shut _up_ , sensei."

"Whatever," Shirayuki scoffed and turned to Naruto, "For the record, we learn a lot of things from his stupid introduction."

Naruto gave her his full attention, as did Sasuke. Kakashi seemed too interested as if no one has ever said something like that before, or perhaps he wanted to measure her usefulness. "What? Tell me, tell me, Yuki-chan!"

"We learned his name, which is important in the Shinobi World, especially if said person may or may not be found in a Bingo Book, I'll tell you what is it later Naruto," Shirayuki stated at Naruto who was about to ask about it, "Anyways, back to the topic, we also learned that he keeps his guard up by not revealing his dislikes and likes that may be used against him if revealed, yes it is extremely important, let's say when you become Hokage, Naruto, and the enemy knew you liked Ramen, if they poisoned the ramen you eat, boom."

Naruto paled but kept quiet, Shirayuki continued after the silence, "And his dreams are unknown as it's a sign he still dwells in the past and whatever happens in it, or I could be wrong on that matter too so let's move on. As for hobbies it means that he is always busy and uses up all his spare time, or I could be wrong on both accounts and he's just too lazy to tell us."

"Interesting," Kakashi commented, "Well, why don't you make your introduction next, Shirayuki-chan?"

Shirayuki shrugged, "My name is Shirayuki Nara, my likes are things that I enjoy doing and my dislikes are things that I detest doing. My dreams for the future is to live long enough to say I can enjoy retirement as a Ninja and hobbies are... things I do in my past time."

"You're the same as Kakashi-sensei, Yuki-chan," Naruto pouted, unhappy that he was unable to find out about his friend. Shirayuki shrugged.

"Next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes, I don't have a dream, _no_ , my goal is to restore my clan and murder one man," Sasuke stated darkly, eyes darkening with each word and the hands of his entwined with each other tighter than before. All three of the only other presence on the rooftop gave him looks, which Sasuke ignored. 

"Right... The last!" Kakashi-sensei chirped. Naruto grinned widely and fiddled with his hitai-ate, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Ramen, Yuki-chan when she's not pissy–"I resent that, Naruto"– and a lot more, I dislike the three minutes we need to wait for Ramen to boil and my dreams for the future is the be the greatest Hokage ever!"

Silence. Shirayuki cackled and rolled on the floor, making everyone look at her as if she was crazy. "Oh my god, I just remembered something, inside joke."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head and shrugged, "My hobbies are... Pranks, I guess."

"Great!" Kakashi clapped, "You all have your strengths and weaknesses. Tomorrow we have given a training together."

"What training?" Naruto inquired curiously, head tilted and eyes wide with wonder. Kakashi chuckled darkly, "A survival training, of course, one that would determine your status as a Ninja."

"Hold on... of course," Shirayuki hit herself on the head, "The graduation exam was an elimination round wasn't it? This is the real Genin Test."

"Well, expected of a Nara," Shirayuki clicked her tongue at the small jab. "You have a 66% chance of failing my test tomorrow, meet me at Training Ground 7, 5 in the morning... oh and, I suggest you don't eat breakfast, _or you might puke_."

And he disappeared. Shirayuki face faulted and mumbled under her breath. Five in the morning? "He wants me to be there at five in the fucking morning? Do I look like a fucking morning person? That son of a bitch can suck my dick."

"You're so uncouth," Sasuke commented in disgust. Shirayuki glared at him and gave him to harsh thumbs down, "You know how many fucks I give? Zero."

(And she proceeds to walk away like a boss.)

* * *

 "...Shirayuki, are you sick?" Miketsuni questioned his daughter incredulously. HIs daughter was up and eating breakfast at 5:30 in the morning. Usually, she wouldn't even be found awake, much less up and eating. Shirayuki looked up at her father and set her face into a deadpan, mouth coming down harshly on her rice ball. "No, our teacher was just being an ass."

"Language," Miketsuni frowned before taking a seat in front of her, his mind already trying to figure out who could possibly be his daughter's teacher. Shirayuki just reached for another rice ball, already on her fifth that morning, she always had a high metabolism rate and screw Kakashi and his no eating breakfast rule. Shirayuki was almost certain her teacher won't arrive until three hours later and it was more than enough time for her food to be fully digested.

"Who's your teacher?" Her father asked. Shirayuki paused, seventh rice ball right before her mouth, before lowering her food down, "My teacher is none other than Kakashi Hatake, Tardiness Extraodinaire."

"Oh." No more words were exchanged about her teacher. Biting down on her tenth rice ball, Shirayuki felt content that she was not only late to the meeting, she had also eaten breakfast when they were suggested not to. She couldn't remember whether something like this happened in the anime, but, she did remember that they had to take a test involving the taking of bells from Kakashi. Even if she wasn't a Nara, she knew that the objective of the test was teamwork. No Genin could outrank a Jounin as well-known as Kakashi Hatake. Shirayuki was shameless, and she admits that she had looked through several bingo books in her father's stash and Kakashi appeared in every single one of it, highest rank being an A-ranked Ninja.

"What time did he say to meet?" Miketsuni questioned out of curiosity, knowing his daughter, she was most likely late already. Shirayuki snorted, "Five in the morning... I'm jealous, I bet Maru is having a less troublesome time than I am."

"I'm sure he isn't..." Miketsuni laughed awkwardly, knowing full well just who was his nephew's Jounin instructor. Shirayuki gave him a look and scowled. "I'm going, there's still rice in the cooker so tell Haha-ue that she doesn't need to cook any more rice."

"...Just how much did she cook?" Miketsuni questioned to no one in particular as he stared down into the rice cooker.

* * *

"Yuki-chan! You're late, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed with an accusing finger pointed at our heroine who didn't care. Shirayuki smirked, "I know, guess what, I ate breakfast too."

"B-but Kakashi-sensei said not to!" Naruto retorted rudely, pouncing on the Nara female. Shirayuki rolled away and wiggled out of the tight embrace. Shirayuki gave Naruto an unamused look before laying down, "He didn't, he _suggested_ it, never mean it. It's bullshit to have training, especially a survival one without breakfast, the low energy intake could kill you."

"Huh."

As expected, it took a total of three more hours untill Kakashi-sensei turned up in all his slouching glory. Shirayuki had enough slepe by then, food digested and energy quota filled... however, she felt unusually lazy today and thought it was too much of a drag to get up from her sleeping area just when she was so comfortable. "You're late! Kakashi-sensei!"

"Well... I got lost on the road of life," Kakashi replied easily. Shirayuki snorted, "I'm sure, and I'm actually someone who doesn't curse, is having a secret mind-blowing sex with a Yamanaka three times my age and have a sidekick named Empress Blowjob."

There was silence and Shirayuki smirked in amusement at all the faces shwon to her. Kakashi was giving her a weirded out look, while Naruto was confused and, _oh wasn't this intersting_ , "Sasuke, why are you red?"

"Shut up." "Real mature."

"Now, now, no lovers' spat here," Kakashi chirped. Shirayuki scowled and flipped him off, while Sasuke scowled and turned away like the moody and depressing he dressed like. "Well, your objective is to get a bell from me before the clock, it's set to ring at noon. Anyone who didn't get a bell would be sent back to the academy, got it?"

"Oh..."

Shirayuki stretched as she stood from her napping area, hands immediately stuffing itself into her baggy pocket and hair tied into a high ponytail. Our annoyed Nara walked to the back of the group, ready to bolt at moment's notice. Shirayuki cocked her head at the look Kakashi gave her and scowled, stupid grey haired old man. Kakashi clapped his hands, "Ready... start!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter:
> 
> "Oh my lord! How can both of you be so fucking dumb? No, that's not the point of this stupid thing," Shirayuki snapped, irritated and tired, having to dispel Genjutsu after Genjutsu, "Getting the bell is the objective but the point of the exercise is teamwork! Don't you go all I don't need fucking teammates on me, Uchiha, and neither can you go all Hokage have to work it out himself bullshit, Naruto."
> 
> Both boys blinked at her, one gaping while the other had his eye twitching.
> 
> Shirayuki slapped them both on the head, "Listen, have you ever heard of a Genin with three teammates? No? Exactly. Have you heard of a Genin defeating a Jounin, rarely, but one of Kakashi's calibre? Fuck no. Get a grip, Kakashi is a genius who graduated at five, Chunin at 6 and a Jounin probably before he even understood what teenage hormones are all about, this is the man who is in every single village's Bingo Book. We need to work together to even have a chance and I have a plan, hear me out?"
> 
> Sasuke ends up surprising Shirayuki when he took a step forward and crouched beside her before nodding, "Fine, you're a Nara anyways, and I know they are known for amazing plans."
> 
> "I'll listen, dattebayo, Yuki-chan," Naruto agreed. Shirayuki smacked him for the nickname and smirked, picking a stick up from the ground, "It's simple..."


	6. A Nara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does it mean to be a Nara? Smarts? Strategies? Wit? Listless?

Shirayuki Nara considered herself an extremely smart person, but she was not blind to the fact she was lazy, arrogant and proud. It was the markings on someone hateful, and she was no inclined to change, that was how bullheaded she was. Sometimes, her arrogance would go to her head, making it so that her view on others were manipulated, sometimes, she tend to think that others were _beneath_ her and that she could do no wrong. But most times, the rational part of her knew it was wrong, that it was a stupid notion and that absolutely ridiculous irrational part of her was squashed down, after all, as great as she would like to see herself in, she was not the best. That, she could not refute.

Our resident heroine knew she still had a hard time understanding that the people that surrounded her, her father, mother, cousin, relatives, teacher– were not _fictional characters._ She still had a hard time grasping that they were indeed **living, breathing people with self-consciousness and free will,** they are _not_ people made up of one man's head. The massacre had been a trigger warning, it showed her something else, something in her had snapped. But the thing was, _why was she here?_

Shirayuki knew she was never the best person, never the most likeable, always one of the people who others badmouth about. She caught Sakura trash talking about her to Ino and both of them had been friends to a certain degree. _Well, no use crying over spilt milk._ She wasn't new to such things, it had been common in her last life, seeing how her personality didn't change, she failed to see why such scenarios would either.

As she was assigned to two teammates she _never_ would have thought she would get, Shirayuki knew something was wrong, **very, very wrong**. It wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't meant to be, she hasn't done anything, _anything at all_ , that could possibly have made this outcome happen. She had been happily sitting back, playing a side character, being absolutely average. But as we know, Shirayuki Nara was not stupid, she was far from it, would have been hailed as another prodigy of her generation if it weren't for the fact she was a Nara and her cousin had an IQ higher than hers. Sure, she was still known as a Prodigy, but there was a difference, expectancy, "You're a Nara, of course, you're going to be a genius, never heard of a dumb Nara before."

She was a fan of the show, she damn well knew that she had been obsessed with it at one point, read loads of fanfictions, browsed through fan arts one after another, owned several figurines, everything. But that was then, this was now, she was no longer that girl who watched shows, the only problem had been her mom's medical bills, school drama and exams. She was now a part of this godforsaken world, where children are trained to kill, parents set their children up without blinking an eye, war, blood– Shirayuki Nara knew she had to step up her game, because there was something she hated most about anything, including asking for help, and that was being useless.

She refused to be like Sakura had been, a mindless Kunoichi with delusions around her head. Sakura had so much potential, she was Kunoichi of the Year, her sensei had been a man who was a walking legend– and yet, she wasted it all, she never really asked for training, no, nothing. And it wasn't just her, Naruto had been nearly the same. As much as she would hate to admit, Sasuke had been the most motivated out of all three and that wasn't saying much.

Today, she had enough of them. These were **her** teammates now, _it was time to buck up and fuck with all these boys' heads._

* * *

"Shut up," Shirayuki glared, spitting her words out at the boys in front of her "Don't scream, shout, glare or do any form of emotion due to the fact I dragged both you morons here by ear. I have something to say so you better listen or so help me you won't be able to revive your clan, Uchiha and we will have a Hokage in the future who can't reproduce, Uzumaki."

"Who are you to talk to me like that?" Sasuke spat, annoyed at the fact he was talked to in such a condescending manner. Shirayuki kicked his shin, "Shut the fuck up and listen, I'm not some charismatic leader with Saint level patience, so you better listen if you want to make a fucking genin, got it?"

Silence, both boys kept their mouth shut and looked at her, waiting for her to speak. One was fidgety, making Shirayuki conclude that Naruto most likely had Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, it wasn't unusual, she had it too in her last life, just rather mild. Sasuke was just silent, slightly glaring, but surprisingly silent and not protesting. Shirayuki counted that as a win in her book and gave herself a pat on the back. Looking at both of them, Shirayuki asked bluntly, "Alright, assuming I have your attention now, what do you think is the point of this survival exercise?"

"Uh... to get the bell?" Naruto suggested, wondering if his friend was dumb. Well, Yuki-chan wasn't dumb, she was pretty smart but very lazy. Sasuke scoffed, "Dobe. Of course, it's getting a bell." Shirayuki felt her eye twitch in irritation.

"Oh my God! How can both of you be so fucking dumb? No, that's not the point of this stupid thing," Shirayuki snapped, irritated and tired, having to dispel Genjutsu after Genjutsu from before. Kakashi had been giving her Genjutsu while the boys were off like Canon. Which would explain the state she found both of them in, one buried underground while the other was tied up by his feet down a tree, "Getting the bell is the _objective_ but the **point** of the exercise is _teamwork_! Don't you go all I don't need fucking teammates on me, Uchiha, and neither can you go all Hokage have to work it out himself bullshit, Naruto."

Both boys blinked at her, one gaping while the other had his eye twitching.

Shirayuki slapped them both on the head, "Listen, have you ever heard of a Genin with three teammates? No? Exactly. Have you heard of a Genin defeating a Jounin, rarely, but one of Kakashi's calibre? Fuck no. Get a grip, Kakashi is a genius who graduated at five, Chunin at 6 and a Jounin probably before he even understood what teenage hormones are all about, this is the man who is in every single village's Bingo Book. We need to work together to even have a chance and I have a plan, hear me out?"

Sasuke ends up surprising Shirayuki when he took a step forward and crouched beside her before nodding, "Fine, you're a Nara anyways, and I know they are known for amazing plans."

"I'll listen, dattebayo, Yuki-chan," Naruto agreed. Shirayuki smacked him for the nickname and smirked, picking a stick up from the ground, "It's simple..." 

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei, why do you like that book so much anyways?" Shirayuki commented offhandedly, standing in front of Kakashi with both her hands behind her back. Kakashi blinked, mouth opened behind his mask, ready to give a retort worthy of a Hatake- that is until his lone female student gained a sly smirk and continued talking, "I mean, I personally liked the book where Mika was extremely incredible, especially when she was openly screwing herself with the hilt of her tanto in public while having her shuriken serve as a-"

"How do you- That's from Icha Icha Violence! Shirayuki, do you read it?" Kakashi flushed a tomato red that rivalled his sensei's wife's hair, gaping at his _fourteen-year-old_ female genin who was shamelessly narrating part of the story that he was very much familiar with. He could not believe that she had read it! Shirayuki smirked, "Have I? Truly, Kakashi-sensei, you must've read it so many times to immediately know which book is it from, or perhaps you did it on some lipstick missions...?"

"You!" Kakashi wanted to jump back and found himself frozen, his eyes narrowed on his smirking student. Shirayuki held up her hands which were previously out of his sight, it was held in a seal he saw multiple times on a Nara member. Shirayuki grinned, "Kagemane no Jutsu, complete, NOW SASUKE, NARUTO!"

Both Sasuke and Naruto who were hiding in the trees jumped out. Naruto immediately tied Kakashi up with a rope, making Shirayuki grimaced at the feeling of being bound by ropes, a troublesome drawback of the technique, truly, while Sasuke reached for the bells...

* * *

_"It's simple, Naruto, you are about to prank Kakashi-sensei," Shirayuki said seriously, Sasuke gave her an incredulous look while Naruto... well, you can't describe exactly how bright the smile on his face was at the moment, "Your prank is going to be as elaborate as possible, supreme ramen level. You're going to stall him while we built up for the prank to commence. I'm the distraction, don't worry how I'll do it, and on my signal, you will tie him up with a rope."_

_"Where are you going to get a rope from?" Sasuke questioned, Naruto waved him off, "I have a rope on me almost all the time. There's this storage seal I picked up and it's stuck to my shirt so there is a lot of stuff in it."_

_Shirayuki blinked and whistles lowly, "Wow... remind me to study Fuuinjutsu one of these days, that would be so useful, no need to carry any baggage."_

_"The. Plan," Sasuke reminded pointedly, rolling his eyes. Shirayuki chuckled sheepishly, "Right, anyways, I'm the distraction, Naruto is the trap maker and Sasuke is the prank operator. He's going to get the bell the moment Kakashi is tied, because he's the fastest out of all of us right now, and don't argue Naruto, I've been in the same class as all of you, I know."_

_Naruto pouted and turned away. But that changed and he ended up glaring at Sasuke who was smirking smugly at him. Shirayuki rolled her eyes before drawing a ball with spiky hair, "So remember, distract, signal, rope and bells. Simple, right?"_

_All three nodded. It was the beginning of something new._

* * *

"Well done," Kakashi commented dryly, still bound. Shirayuki snorted before releasing the technique, exhaustion overtaking her body. Naruto grinned from beside Sasuke as Shirayuki walked over to join her teammates. Kakashi wiggled out of the ropes, "So, who are the bells going to go to, Sasuke-kun?"

"They can keep it," Shirayuki shrugged, it wasn't as if she didn't know what Kakashi was doing. She wasn't a Nara for nothing, it was obvious that their sensei was impressed with their work, but he's trying to make their teamwork as solid as possible. He's making sure that when worse comes to worse, they won't abandon each other. "I have no need for bells, if I'm sent back to the academy, I'd graduate in a year or maybe I'll enlist myself into something else, continue my book, publish it, become rich and laugh at you people while enjoying at luxuries."

She wasn't lying, she truly wanted that but alas, that was not to be. She did enjoy the looks from her team, Kakashi blinked at her and looked as if he has never heard anything as crazy, Shirayuki didn't blame him. Naruto gaped, eyes popping out and mouth spluttering incoherently while Sasuke had his entire face morphed into what seemed like him trying to say 'Are you high on drugs, nimrod?' Shirayuki snorted, "What?"

"You are by far the weirdest girl I have ever met," Kakashi admitted. Shirayuki blinked and took a bow, "It is my honour to be unique."

If Kakashi facepalmed at her words, Shirayuki didn't say anything, nor commented, or showed any indication she saw and heard it. Her two other teammates, however, were staring at her, making Shirayuki twitch in discomfort, "I know I'm pretty but don't stare at me too long... actually, don't stare at me at all, it's creepy, period."

Sasuke spluttered in indignation before glaring at her, "Shut up, you oaf."

Shirayuki raised an elegant brow, "Make me, duck ass."

"What did you say, you stupid hooligan?!"

"Have a hard time hearing? I said _make me_ Mr-Stick-Up-My-Ass. Oh and for the record, if your IQ is below 200, it's lower than mine, so I don't think you're qualified to call me stupid, stupid." Shirayuki snarked back easily at the spiteful Uchiha. Sasuke glared at his arrogant teammate, "At least all I have is a stick up there, what about you? All the shit must be missing because it comes out of your mouth."

Shirayuki snarled, "I'm _sorry_ , what did you say? I can't hear you over the bullshit you're sprouting."

"At least I don't have an ego like yours." Sasuke spat back. Shirayuki narrowed her eyes, "You're right, mine actually fits through the door, unlike yours."

"You guys argue like a married couple," Kakashi commented happily. Both his students glared at him while Shirayuki added her two cents into the conversation, "Yeah, one that's about to get a divorce, maybe."

Sasuke glared at Shirayuki who happily returned the favour. Poor, innocent Naruto stood in between them, confused as to what he should do. On one side, Shirayuki was his friend but she _hated_ when people helped her, on the other hand, he didn't want to help the bastard at all. Shirayuki grumbled and stalked away, "Whatever."

Kakashi sighed, "Well, Sasuke? Who are the bells going to?"

Sasuke looked down at his bell before tossing over to Naruto and Shirayuki, "I don't need to be a Genin to achieve my goal."

Kakashi grinned, "Well, you pass. Remember, all those who break the rules are scums, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than scums."

"...Since she broke the rules by eating breakfast and coming late can I call her scum?" Silence, and then: **"COME HERE YOU SHITTY DUCK ASS, BRING IT!"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "Sousuke, position A, over." A deep depressing voice that could only belong to His Uchiha himself resounded into the communication device. Shirayuki barely blinked as it was her turn, "Mika, position B, over, speak more enthusiastically, duckass, I bet the cat died because of how depressing you sound."
> 
> "Shut up." Kakashi sighed as he heard the bickers of two of his students, "... Nanase, position C, over!"
> 
> "Faster, Naruto, Issei, position D, over, any reason why you named us three after characters who were killed by Mika in Icha Icha Violence and then proceed to name yourself Mika?"
> 
> "Because that's how I'm feeling right now, particularly towards Sousuke," Shirayuki replied. There was silence before Kakashi snickered, "But Mika had sex the most with Sousuke, do you have something to tell us, Mika?"
> 
> "If I remembered, Issei liked to be dominated by Mika, are you sure you don't have something to share, sensei?" Shirayuki returned smoothly with a smirk on her face. Then a loud voice broke through, "What are you guys talking about?"
> 
> "Nothing, Naruto, Nothing."


	7. Shameless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's different in the 21st Century. It's obviously different, but just because it's different does not mean she can't implement things.
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: This is... more of a filler, I know. I'm disappointed in myself, actually.

"Chichi-ue... Can't I take a rest? I just came home from training," Shirayuki pleaded desperately, voice dropping of exhaustion and eyes half-lidded. Miketsuni raised an elegant brow at her before promptly declaring, "No."

She collapsed onto the couch, "Just give me twenty minutes, and I'll go."

"Fine," Miketsuni conceded, deflating a little from seeing the state his daughter was in, "But no more than twenty minutes or it's an extra hour every day till you reach Chunin." 

"Alright."

Twenty minutes later, Shirayuki stood in front of her father with her hands stuffed inside her pocket and body slouched forward. She wasn't always the type of person who slouched, by far she had one of the best body postures in the clan, but today Shirayuki was just too drained to stand up straight in the way her mother had beat into her. 

Miketsuni smiled coyly, ten leaves held between his index and middle finger, "Today, you are to hold the shadow of these leaves and paralyze them mid-air while moving around, the leaves would be moving. I'll start off with 1 and we'll go up from there."

Shirayuki blinked twice before grimacing, already knowing that she would be much more exhausted than she already was. Not to mention her mind was working overtime, and headache assaulting her head. She pulled her hands out reluctantly and formed into a hand seal her father had drilled into her since the age of seven, "Alright."

"Ready, 1, 2, 3!" Miketsuni threw a leaf up into the air and Shirayuki immediately set her technique into motion. Her shadow extended slowly, aiming for the fading shadow that belonged to the leaf. Multiple times she missed and by the time she managed to capture it, the leaf was almost touching the ground. Shirayuki panted as the technique forcefully released due to exhaustion. Miketsuni shook his head, "Again."

Shirayuki clenched her hands into fists before breathing in heavily, her eyes fixed on the falling leaves before her mind started working. There was no wind, the leaves would drift the only side to side slightly, the ending spot wouldn't be too far from where her father had placed them at. Nodding to herself, she extended her shadow near the leaves and smirked on victory as the leaves moved exactly where she pick point before holding the leaves, "Got it."

"Good job, tomorrow we'll work with pebbles," Miketsuni informed a dismayed Shirayuki. She huffed before dropping on the floor, "So troublesome..." 

* * *

"Sousuke, position A, over." A deep depressing voice that could only belong to His Uchiha himself resounded into the communication device. Shirayuki barely blinked when it was her turn, "Mika, position B, over, speak more enthusiastically, duckass, I bet the cat died because of how depressing you sound."

"Shut up." Kakashi sighed as he heard the bickers of two of his students, "... Nanase, position C, over!"

"Faster, Nanase, Issei, position D, over, any reason why you named us three after characters who were killed by Mika in Icha Icha Violence and then proceed to name yourself Mika?"

"Because that's how I'm feeling right now, particularly towards Sousuke," Shirayuki replied. There was silence before Kakashi snickered, "But Mika had sex the most with Sousuke, do you have something to tell us, Mika?"

"If I remembered, Issei liked to be dominated by Mika, are you sure you don't have something to share, sensei?" Shirayuki returned smoothly with a smirk on her face. Then a loud voice broke through, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing, Naruto, Nothing." 

"I see the cat!" Naruto yelled into the earpiece. Shirayuki, who was hidden in the trees, immediately pull the earpiece away and held it a good distance away from her. She scowled and brought the mic near her mouth, "DON'T SHOUT!"

Simultaneously, all the boys winced and tucked their earpiece free. Shirayuki jumped down from her tree and walked closer towards the cat, she dug into her pocket and held something out, "Come here cat."

Tora froze misstep before pouncing on Shirayuki's hand. Face faulting, our resident genius picked the feline up by the nape and held it towards Kakashi, "Mission complete. Can we finally have training now?" 

"Of course," Kakashi chuckled, "But not before we deliver the cat to Hokage-sama." 

* * *

"Okay, what you're gonna be doing today is climb these trees," Kakashi explained, pointing at the trees on the training ground. Naruto gaped at his teacher, "Climb trees!????"

"What a waste of time," Sasuke mumbled under his breath. Shirayuki snorted, standing in between the both of them, sure she knew what her teacher meant, having practised it with her parents before, but these two were comical, Naruto more than Sasuke. Kakashi narrowed his eye and snapped, "Listen up, you kids, this won't be some ordinary tree climbing, the catch is that you're not allowed to use your hands."

"But! How would that help us train, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto demanded rudely, stomping his right feet on the ground and cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. Shirayuki tuned in to listen, she remembered her father saying that it was for chakra control, maybe Kakashi-sensei had a different explanation. She didn't remember any of the tree walking exercises in Naruto, definitely must've forgotten or perhaps she just changed how things were meant to be.

"I'm getting to that," Kakashi rolled his eye, "The point of this exercise is simple, you will gain further mastery over your chakra. The way to maximize efficiency. To have the minimum input and maximum output. Every single jutsu used in our life requires a different amount of chakra, if you were to use the proper amount of chakra for respective jutsu, the efficiency of your attacks or defences would be heightened."

"This is because Chakra is like our second skin, isn't it? That's why we have to have a mastery over it, otherwise, we wouldn't be able to control how it goes?" Shirayuki prompted, her mind whirling around. Her father had not gone into such dept when it came to explaining exactly why she had needed to learn such things. He was more than likely expecting her to figure it out on her own. Kakashi nodded, "Correct. Theoretically speaking, if you can master this technique, no ninjutsu should be a challenge."

"Huh? I don't get it, dattebayo!" Naruto cried out. Shirayuki snorted in amusement while Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Dobe."

"What did you say, teme!?"

"Listen up, Naruto," Shirayuki interrupted, "Imagine three empty bowls."

Naruto nodded, Shirayuki took it as a sign to continue, "Each bowl has three differently boiled ramen, the first bowl has a ramen boiled at only two minutes, the second was exactly three minutes and the third one was boiled for 5 minutes. Which of the ramen, after adding miso soup, would taste the best?"

"Of course the second bowl!" Naruto responded quickly without hesitation. Shirayuki snorted at the quick reply, "Alright, not replace the ramen with chakra and miso soup with your jutsu, say your chakra is like the third bowl, you overuse it, what would happen to your jutsu?"

"My techniques would be bad..." Naruto announced with a dawn of realisation upon his face. Shirayuki smirked, "That's right, so you got what Kakashi is trying to say about Chakra, now?"

"Why didn't he just say it like you did in the first place!" Naruto groaned before pointing an accusing finger towards Kakashi. Shirayuki face faulted, well, at least she got her friend to understand... huh, since when did she refer to Naruto as a friend, she always thought she considered him just someone else in her life. Pursing her lips, Shirayuki cast her eyes towards the ground and thought of what she had been doing. She was getting much too involved in the timeline, not as if she had a choice what being her the kunoichi that was placed in Team 7, but she must've done something to have changed so much.

"Maa... Shirayuki-chan just has a better making of a tutor, I assume," Kakashi chirped. Shirayuki scowled at him, "I do not."

"Of course."

"...Are you mocking me, sensei? If you are, I will put the Kunai you gave us to good use."

* * *

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!" Shirayuki raged, throwing the cat into a cage, -"Who is Jesus? Or what is Christ?"- locking it up before breaking the key in her hand to pieces. She slammed the metal cage on Hokage-sama's wooden table before snarling, "So help me if this cat wounds up on our mission list once again I will promise that the daimyo's wife does not have to worry about this shitty feline running away anymore."

"Oh?" Hokage-sama drawled out in an amused tone, "What do you mean by that, Nara-chan?"

Shirayuki slammed the top of the cage once more, ceasing all the sounds made from the cat and scaring it into submission. Her eyes were narrowed into a glare and mouth pulled into a cruel smirk, "Ashes can't run."

"...Kakashi, control your genin," Hokage-sama face faulted and inclined his head towards a cackling Nara. Kakashi sighed before cuffing his student on her head. Shirayuki stomped down with as much as strength she could muster on her Jounin leader's leg unrepentantly before turning away. Sasuke sweatdropped, he was starting to think that being on the same team as a fangirl would be better than a violent strategic genius.

"Well then, are you up for another mission?" Hokage-sama asked, unfolding the scrolls in front of him.

Shirayuki cut in swiftly, her mind sorting out her thoughts, "We still have to master water walking, Kakashi-sensei."

"Well then, you heard the girl." 

* * *

"I know we're supposed to adapt to situations..." Naruto spluttered out after he emerged from beneath the unrelenting harsh stream. His eyes narrowed into sharp blue glares and directed them accusingly towards their teacher who was perched on a tree _dry_ with his book in hand, "WHY ARE YOU PURPOSELY MAKING THE WATER STRONGER!?"

"Why, it's for you good, Naru-chan."

" _Bullshi_."

"What was that, Yuki-chan? Are you saying Team 7 requests for fifty laps around Konoha tomorrow morning? Why, what kind of sensei would I be to reject that!" Kakashi chirped happily. Shirayuki blanched at that while Sasuke glared harshly at her. Naruto grimaced before falling into the water once more.

"...That's it, I'm taking off my clothes!" Naruto announced and stripped his t-shirt. He twisted the drenched shirt and twitched his eye at the buckets of water it had soaked up. Shirayuki stared at Naruto for a second before looking down at her own drenched black shirt. She blinked twice before her fingers reached for the hem of her shirt and tuck it over her head.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YUKI-CHAN!"

Shirayuki held her shirt over her head, her chest exposed and stared at a red-faced Naruto without a sense of shame. The shameless genius shrugged, "I did what you did, removing a drenched shirt from my body. I could catch a cold if I continued practising with wet clothing."

"Tch. Do you have no shame, Nara?" Sasuke snapped... but his body was turned the other way and the tips of his ears were flushed with embarrassment. Shirayuki scowled, "Excuse me? Why can Naruto do it and I can't?"

"You're a girl, Yuki-chan," Kakashi explained softly. Shirayuki clicked her tongue, "Oh, so it's because I'm a girl huh? Well, I bleed the same as you boys and _I don't_ see you calling those men who walk without a shirt on shameless. All of you are being sexist."

"What?" Sasuke gaped incredulously, "No, we're not. It's just not right for a woman to walk around half naked!"

"And what makes woman so different from a man, huh?  A penis and breast? Fucking grow up, I'm a comrade, not a woman unless you're planning on fucking me which I'm sure you don't." Shirayuki scowled and crossed her hands beneath her breast. So what? Back in the states, _no one_ asked why she walked around half naked. Hell, there was a nude beach over there. What do these boys have anything to tell her about, just because she has a pair of breast and she wasn't allowed to strip her shirt? Sexist bastards.

"I'd rather go for Naruto before I would screw you," snapped Sasuke. Shirayuki flipped him off, "Well, if you must, Naruto has better standards than that. And for your information, I would rather go suck Hokage-sama's dick than even think about kissing your cheeks!"

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Kakashi made a chopping motion with his hand between the two genins. He tutted at Shirayuki, "You're awfully uncouth for a girl."

"One more sexist comment, Kakashi-sensei, I swear, one more sexist comment, and _I will make you a fucking woman_ ," Shirayuki snarled and tucked on her shirt. She stomped away from the scene, not feeling the slightest bit of shame from being this petty. _At all_.

* * *

"YOU WHAT?" Shikamaru yelled before slipping and falling on the ground. Shirayuki scowled at her cousin, "I said, I stripped and they started to make a big fuss out of it! It's annoying, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't strip! I was going to catch a cold if-"

"You stripped," Shikamaru stated bluntly, "In front of Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke."

"Yes," Shirayuki nodded. Shikamaru face palmed himself so hard that Shirayuki swore her cousin had a concussion. Shikamaru breathed, "Yuki. Women don't just strip in front of men."

"That's bullshit! Why can't I? Is it against the rule or something. Because if it is, that's a pretty shitty rule," Shirayuki snapped. #

"Oh my god..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "My name is Tazuna and I am a super bridge builder!" A tanned man with a country accent announced, one hand holding a cheap sake and the other leaning against the door frame. Shirayuki gave him the most unimpressed stare before turning back to the Hokage, "I asked for a C-rank, not slob rank."
> 
> "Excuse me!?" Tazuna roared in fury. Shirayuki bit back easily, "Bit me, drunkass."
> 
> "Can you just not fight for once, Shirayuki? For once, shut up." Kakashi groaned in annoyance at his genin. Shirayuki gave him a scrutinizing gaze before smirking, "If you let me find out teach me one B-ranked technique for my affinity I will stop."
> 
> Kakashi levelled her with a gaze, "Promise?"
> 
> "Promise," Shirayuki lied, crossing her fingers behind her back and staring into the eye of her teacher.


	8. To Idle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idle
> 
> 1\. (of a person) avoiding work; lazy.
> 
> 2\. without purpose or effect; pointless.

"Alright, everyone has a paper?" Kakashi questioned and without missing a beat, he answered his own question, "Yes, okay good."

The three genin stared at their teacher weirdly, wondering if a mental vein had been inserted into the wrong hole or something. Shirayuki, however, had absolutely no problem announcing her opinions on the matter. She questioned with a straight face, not batting an eyelash at the looks given from her teammates, Sasuke rolling his eyes in exasperation while Naruto was guffawing, "Are you sure you weren't dropped on the head when you're a baby, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm sure, Yuki-chan," Kakashi replied dutifully, already used to the antics of his lone female genin. Shirayuki narrowed her eyes, "Alright, that means you must've been thrown into a wall when you were young."

Kakashi chose to ignore her pointedly.

"Alright, there are five elements, fire it'll burn, wind it'll slice in half, earth the paper would crumble, water the paper would turn damp and finally the paper would wrinkle if it's lightning," He explained, channelling his chakra into his paper. Three pairs of eyes glued themselves onto the wrinkled paper. While Shirayuki breathed, "Alright..."

"Ready?" Kakashi drawled, "Start!"

Shirayuki stared down at her soaked paper and blinked, "Huh, water, nice!"

"Cool! Mine split in half!" Shirayuki turned to Naruto, insulting words at the tip of her tongue. She scowled and swallowed her sentence before plastering on a demented smile that doesn't suit her face in the slightest, "Wind, huh? Good job, Naruto"

"... You look creepy, Yuki-chan," Naruto commented before taking several steps away from the glaring girl. Shirayuki flipped him off before getting rid of the damp paper that was clinging to her hand.

Sasuke Uchiha knew that his teammate was immensely intellectual, perhaps not to a point of being a phenomenal genius like Itachi, but nonetheless intelligent and enough to be classified as a genius of her own. When he was first placed into a team, he dreaded who were to be on it. A fangirl? Naruto? He didn't want anyone on a team, in actual, but he was bound by the rule or Hokage. Then he was placed with Naruto and one of the only girls he could tolerate. Two days later, he took back the statement saying he could tolerate her.

She was a nightmare.

As he stared down at the burned paper, his dark eyes flickered between the obnoxious blonde and snide black head, before letting his paper turn to ash and fly away. The girl had a water affinity and he had Fire, how opposite.

"Oi, duckass, did you get Fire like all other Uchiha?" The girl asked, stepping closer towards Sasuke. That dreaded nickname was to be stuck with him until who knows when and in all honesty, Sasuke didn't know if it was a good thing that she wasn't a fangirl or a bad thing that she kept on insulting him since she decided to talk to him. Sasuke clicked his tongue as if he would get any other affinity, "Of course."

She scoffed, face morphed into a cocky expression Sasuke had grown all too familiar with and a small smirk decorating her pretty face, "How unoriginal."

"Shut up, you immodest girl," Sasuke snapped all easily. Shirayuki snorted in amusement, "Well, look here, the prude learned new insults!"

"You're infuriating," Sasuke retaliated hotly.

Shirayuki was glad to return his fire with twice the heat, "And you're insufferable."

"Now, now, no more flirting during training."

And if course there was Kakashi, the most annoying man in the world. Sasuke gripped his hands tightly and glared at the silver-haired Jounin. Shirayuki clicked her tongue, Sasuke heard, and his eyes drifted to her form to look from the corner of his eye. The brash girl scowled unrelentingly at their amused teacher, "Sensei, if you have a hard time differentiating what exactly is an argument and flirting, I can show you how flirting goes."

"Oh, I rather not," Kakashi denied smoothly. Sasuke raised a brow, it was a pattern already, Shirayuki never stops at just one rebuttal, she always had more up her sleeves. It was as if she had a reply to everything and anything. Sasuke's deduction was proven right.

"Oh? You should've taken it, sensei, I'm sure that that was the first and likely the only time you'd ever have a girl come to flirt with you without any ulterior motive... Unless you're homosexual and have feelings for Hokage-sama. My, how scandalous-"

"Shirayuki, keep quiet."

"No, _thank_ you." 

* * *

"Y-You, this is amazing! This is all your idea?" A book editor by the name Kuga Shirageki exclaimed, eyes scanning through the manuscript. Shirayuki withheld a snort, of course, it wasn't her idea entirely, but JK Rowling was a genius and Shirayuki couldn't say she was someone who was beneath using another person's idea. With a straight face, she lied, "Of course."

"You said there was going to be how many books in this series?" Kuga questioned, long black hair swept to the side and hands working on the application form. Shirayuki hummed and pretended to think, "Seven."

"Amazing, so the entire series is named Izuna Hirohito?" Shirayuki nodded in confirmation. Kuga grinned, "Well then, looks like you've found an editor. The book should be up and published within a month or two time."

"Ooh, thank you, the first book is called Izuna Hirohito and the stone of Immortality," Shirayuki replied and turned, ready to leave. However, she was stopped by the man, "Ah! Wait! What's your pen name?"

_"Akage."_

* * *

"Alright, we'll be assigned to a C-Ranked Mission today," Kakashi informed his team. Shirayuki literally gave a look of utter loathing while Naruto looked like he was about to have his first organism. Sasuke... well- "The Hokage will brief us about the objective and I expect every single one of you brats to listen properly, alright?"

"Hai, sensei."

Team 7 walked into the office, face pulled into each of their own masks. Surprisingly, Naruto has the best mask out of his team, second being Sasuke and then Shirayuki. While Shirayuki mastered the art of pulling her face into looking as if she was bored, Sasuke had one of indifference which was like a Ninja. Naruto, however, perfected it by pulling a big grin on his face, lulling others into a false sense of security, but if one were to look into his eyes they would see the calculating look hidden beneath all the mischief. Kakashi smiled proudly at his mask, it was a good thing, after all, to have them trained much more before attempting a higher ranked mission.

Kakashi didn't know whether it was due to the effect of having a Nara on the team but the team he had now was much more of a calculative team rather than an incompetent pack of little shits. Offence fully intended Kakashi wouldn't deny the fact that his team was an absolute nightmare in the beginning. An unmotivated strategist, a revenge-filled genius, and a weaponized orphan. It was plainly asking for hell.

"Oh, good morning, Team 7," Hokage-sama greeted from behind his desk. His desk was filled with scrolls that were filled with mission requests. Shirayuki's sharp eyes glanced past the table and paused slightly on the scroll for A ranked missions, her eyes fixed on of the names written under the 'Ninja on Quest'.

_Miketsuni Nara._

But Shirayuki had no time to think of what her father was off doing, as soon as her mind started turning to the matter, the drunk client they were being hired by opened his mouth to declare a proclamation. This made our heroine extremely annoyed, one thing a Nara hated more than being told what to do when they clearly didn't be being interrupted when they were thinking.

"My name is Tazuna and I am a super bridge builder!" A tanned man with a country accent announced, one hand holding a cheap sake and the other leaning against the door frame. Shirayuki gave him the most unimpressed stare before turning back to the Hokage, "I asked for a C-rank, not slob rank."

"Excuse me!?" Tazuna roared in fury. Shirayuki bit back easily, "Bite me, drunkass."

"Can you just not fight for once, Shirayuki? Just for once, shut up." Kakashi groaned in annoyance at his genin. Shirayuki gave him a scrutinizing gaze before smirking, "If you let me find out my elemental affinity and teach me one B-ranked technique for said affinity I will stop."

Kakashi levelled her with a gaze, "Promise?"

"Promise," Shirayuki lied, crossing her fingers behind her back and staring into the eye of her teacher.

* * *

"Are you even sure these brats are competent?" Tazuna complained about the umpteenth time that day. Shirayuki scowled and glared, "Are _you_ sure you're even sober enough to be _building a bridge_?"

"Shirayuki," Kakashi pressed.

 _'Fuck this teacher,'_ Shirayuku pursed her lips, ' _Why does she have to wake up early and put up with this drunk person? Oh, because her father had to enlist her into the ninja program. Because she just had to be emancipated and put up with this drunk motherfucker-'_

"...You're gripping," Sasuke commented with a smirk adorning his handsome face. Shirayuki froze, her mind whirling, "...I said all that out loud?"

"...You were gripping," Sasuke repeated, this time more to himself, incredulously. He stared at her as if he could not comprehend what she just did. Shirayuki scowled, "I was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

"...You were," Sasuke finished and left. Shirayuki kicked a pebble, aiming at his leg. Meanwhile...

"Hah!? What did you say, stupid old man!?" Naruto demanded loudly, "I'll be the best Hokage, dattebayo!"

"Pah! Even if you were a Hokage, it wouldn't make me respect you, stupid gaki." Tazuna retorted back easily. Kakashi who was walking ahead of them made a strangled noise. Shirayuki fiddled with her hands for a second, feeling uncomfortably uneasy at the moment. She reached her hand to tuck at a loose black strand before going back to fiddling, except this time with the hilt of her kunai. She pursed her lips, eyes darting around, what was the uneasy feeling she had?

During her internal argument, Shirayuki had not noticed that her sandals ended up submerging itself into a puddle. But when it did, our salty kunoichi had her mind working on overtime. She pulled out her leg and realized the bottom half of her sandals were completely soaked. The puddle was relatively deep however unusual on a day in Fire Country, especially since it had not rained in days. On a scenario where someone were to spill water, the puddle would have already been fully evaporated or at most, a little water left. It was highly impossible for Ninja to be leaving their tracks and Shirayuki was sure that when she had scanned the contents of the scroll on Hokage-sama's table before, there had not been any other C-ranked missions that required Ninjas to walk through this side of the road.

_Either a diversion or a disguise._

She fell back and took strides closer to the client, either scenario seemed likely that it would cause trouble. Their job was to protect and escort the client, damned if she failed. Her eyes were wide so she breathed, close them, and opened it once more, focusing on her surroundings. The trees weren't rustling, it was to be expected on a hot day as such, there were no paw prints visible on the grounds, meaning they weren't near a fauna's ecosystem. Her body steeled, something didn't feel right.

Before she knew it, the puddle from behind her exploded and two Ninja emerged from within. Wide-eyed, Shirayuki froze in her step as the Ninjas ripped her teacher's to shreds.

"...What?" Shirayuki forced out of her mouth before gathering her wits. This was not the time to panic, she had to get her head back into the game. Her hand gripped her kunai hard, eyes fixed on the approaching ninja. "Well, a green bean, not to mention a girl."

Shirayuki breathed and let a languid smirk to plaster itself onto her face, giving her a faux sense of confidence and providing a mask of superiority. She knew she wasn't the most athletic person, nor was she the most initiative person either. But one thing she knew she had and even beat her uncle at was the way she could play with her words. And if that as what she was best at, Shirayuki was delighted to provide her enemy with a battle of wits. "Deary, me, have you always got to kill this much person, Sir Ninja?"

"Huh?" The male stopped, right before Shirayuki who had her hands behind her back holding her kunai while the other was holding the man behind. Her smile turned sinister and eyes showing the intensity that seemed to baffle the older man. Shirayuki truly was no strong woman in terms of strength, but her greatest weapon was her mind.

"I mean to say," Shirayuki drawled, eyes taking a glimpse of Sasuke who was silently approaching along with a frozen Naruto. Her eyes went back to the Ninja, "A Ninja of your calibre should be able to sense green beans like us, no?"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," she grinned, successfully managing to trap the man's shadow, "You're about to witness your last, mister."

Sasuke aimed for a kick and the man knew no more. Shirayuki winced at the sudden pain that attacked her head. 

* * *

Kakashi showed up, last minute and all, like those heroes in movies that Shirayuki used to detest as Anastasia. It wasn't as if she hated heroes, alright maybe a little, but she loathed to think of how those stupid heroes showed up late, saved the day and all. That didn't work in real life, if you're late, then you're fucked. Done and that. Here she was getting sidetracked.

"Good job, Sasuke, you too Shirayuki," Kakashi complimented before turning to a frozen Naruto, "I didn't expect you to freeze up like that, you got cut didn't you?"

Shirayuki snapped her head towards Naruto, he did? She didn't notice at all, she was sure she managed to cut off any contact the ninja may have with a frozen Naruto. Darn, she overestimated herself, she had been too confident.

"I don't have any medical knowledge aside from basic aid," she informed unnecessarily, "From the looks of it, he was poisoned, shouldn't we go back to get treated before coming back out with reinforcement or somewhat?"

"No!" Naruto yelled, "I'm not going to go back!"

Sasuke scoffed, "What makes you think you are fit to continue, you were poisoned, idiot, not just injured."

"Sasuke's right, Naruto-" Kakashi was cut off by an irate Naruto. The Naruto who proceeds to stab his wound with a kunai harshly. Shirayuki winced, that didn't look pretty. Naurot huffed, "Why am I always so different! Every time, I'm the one holding everyone back! No more!"

"...Eh, he's gonna die," Shirayuki commented dryly. Sasuke barely missed a beat, "Definitely going to die."

"That's a great speech and all, Naruto, but if you continue, you're going to die of blood loss." Kakashi shared the information cheerily. Shirayuki face faulted as soon as Naruto started freaking out.

"Now... Tazuna-san?" Kakashi drawled, getting a terrified whimper from Tazuna, "We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "On a scale of one to ten, how drunk were you when you bought those leg warmers?" Shiryauki questioned with her face pulled into one of absolute incredulity. Her judgemental gaze was fixed on the cow printed leg warmers that hugged the assassins calves. Truly, had this man been drunk when he bought the item? Kakashi blanched at the blatant display of offence directed to an assassin of his ranking from his student, "Shirayuki, stop."
> 
> "Was just asking..."


	9. Apprehension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirayuki never really did fully come into the realisation that she was alive, did she?

"Can't you just, uh, use a loaning system?" Shirayuki suggested to Tazuna, a stem twirling around in her mouth. She managed to take an unusual liking towards playing with a stem using her tongue, Sasuke usually stared at her with an unreadable face after she showed him either a knot or a flower she managed to weave with her mouth muscle.

Back to the point.

"Loaning system?" Kakashi blinked in confusion, "What do you mean by a loaning system?"

"Wait," Shirayuki spat her stem into the river, giving an incredulous look to all of them, "You mean to tell me that Konohagakure, literally the strongest and most influential hidden village does not have a loaning system when it comes to their main source of income?"

"What's a loaning system, Yuki-chan?" Naruto asked, nose scrunched up adorably and eyes squinted. Shirayuki blinked, "Well, wherein the consumer were to lend the producer's service on credit. Which in this case means that Tazuna is the consumer and Konoha is the producer. Basically, we do the mission first and Tazuna would owe us a debt. We can give him a due date for him to have the money returned. If he fails to pay when the deadline comes, then he has to pay with interest added."

"...You're a scary little girl," Tazuna commented. Shirayuki scowled, how rude.

"Woah! When I'm Hokage I'm going to make a loaning system!" Naruto announced enthusiastically with a shit-eating grin on his face. Shirayuki gave a languid smirk, "Of course you would."

"Dobe."

Then there's Sasuke who decided to ruin the mood.

"Teme!"

Meanwhile, Kakashi stared at his female student with a blank face. She was highly perspective, perhaps this time around, it wouldn't be the Nara Heir who was destined to make Hokage's Advisor, perhaps for the first time in Konoha history, it would be a woman who was the Hokage's advisor. Shirayuki had managed to come up with a system to implement in the village that would no doubt result in an economic growth for Konoha.

"You're very smart, aren't you, Yuki-chan?" Kakashi gave a smile to his kunoichi genin. Truly, she was smarter than her cousin and perhaps one day she would rival even her Uncle who was known as the smartest man in Konoha.

"If you're patronizing me, sensei, I will cut off your dick."

Now... if only he had some soap for that filthy mouth of hers.

-

"We're here!" Naruto announced as his feet touched the cold surface beneath. Shirayuki yawned and walked off onto the icy ground with an apathetic look on her face. Then, she froze.

"...Does anyone hear that?" Shirayuki mumbled out, eyes flickering around.

"What is it?" Sasuke questioned, falling into step with her. Shirayuki fixed him with a stare that was somewhat intimidating, "That rustling sound."

Sasuke frowned and strained his ears. He still heard nothing of the sort.

"Nevermind then, it's probably just me hearing stuff," Shirayuki replied to the shaking of his head. Her eyes, however, told a different story. Gazing around in contempt, the girl was on high alert. Even if her intuition was wrong, she was still in an unknown territory with plenty of areas that seemed to be born for a designated ambush.

"Get down!" Kakashi yelled all of a sudden and Shirayuki immediately dropped down. She should really listen to her intuition already. A man soon appeared after the huge sword that embedded itself into the tree trunk. As she stared at the man, her motor mouth seemed to gear up and turn on its engine.

"On a scale of one to ten, how drunk were you when you bought those leg warmers?" Shiryauki questioned with her face pulled into one of absolute incredulity. Her judgemental gaze was fixed on the cow printed leg warmers that hugged the assassins calves. Truly, had this man been drunk when he bought the item?

Kakashi blanched at the blatant display of offence directed to an assassin of his ranking from his student, "Shirayuki, stop."

"Was just asking..." Shirayuki trailed off, eyes scrutinising the long sword. Sure the man had his back turn, but only a moron would be unable to see just how long and large that sword was... That sounded disturbingly wrong. Which brings us to her next question that she had bluntly voiced out, "Question, is the sword compensating for something? Or is it just a fetish?"

There was a thick silence before the sound of flesh hitting flesh was heard. The enemy unknown, another UCP, glared at her.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart, girl!" He snarled. Shirayuki briefly debated, a moment of glory or self-preservation? The inner Gryffindor beat her Slytherin self up, "That's not a very nice thing to say to a virgin like me! We virgins like to be treated with delicate care, you see."

If Shirayuki heard her allies choke, she chose to remain silent on the matter.

"You need to get a check-up," Mr Cow-Pants UCP advised, "You have problems, kid, and I've seen a lot."

Shirayuki looked bashful as she rubbed her head, "Why, thank you."

"... That was not a compliment."

Sasuke stared long and hard at Shirayuki before stating bluntly, "You're the weirdest person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."

"Likewise, cloaca head."

"I'm going to kill those brats," Cow UCP declared before flashing through a series of hand seals, "Kirigakure no Jutsu."

* * *

As soon as her vision became foggy, Shirayuki immediately went down to two simple possibilities of getting rid of the fog: Rain or Wind. Her affinity was water, but she knew absolutely nothing except for the water whipping technique. And that would obviously be no help. The only thing left to do was defence.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Shirayuki called out, determined to share her plans. But she needed to be careful and not have the enemy realise she was making a plan, "We need to protect the client!"

"You have a plan," Sasuke stated as soon as he fell into step beside her. A part of Shirayuki was pleased to have been recognised as the team strategist while a part of her wanted to roll her eyes at his 'all-knowing' tone.

She settled on the earlier.

"I do, want in?" Shirayuki deliberately suggested before jumping right in. "Naruto has a weird but good hold over his clones, Sasuke, you have the best aim among us. So this is what I'm thinking, Naruto you can henge yourself into a shuriken or something, larger the better. Then..."

It didn't take long to explain her plan, but it did take a very long time to explain to Naruto exactly why he can't henge into a large rock. It mostly consists of both Shirayuki and Sasuke insulting his sheer intelligence to betting against each exactly what he would come up with next.

It was a glimpse of comic relief during the tense situation.

"Alright, ready?" Shirayuki asked rhetorically, she didn't really expect anyone to reply back nor did she receive one. Nodding to herself, three genins who were as new as they came steeled their nerves.

It was time to fuck up some UCPs.

* * *

"Kakashi of the Sharingan, of course?" Zabuza commented haughtily, face cocked to the side slightly. Shirayuki straightened herself at the statement, her eyes flickered over to the sole massacre survivor of the team, taking in his tense form before gaze focusing on the enemy.

Kakashi said nothing, merely pulling his hitai-ate up to reveal the infamous pin-wheel eyes. She closed her eyes, trying to recall what she read about in her life as Anastasia. She remembered Kakashi getting the eyes from Obito Uchiha but she didn't remember why and how. She could vaguely make out her memory showing that Obito survived, but how, she forgot.

"Eight areas. Kidney, heart, throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein and the subclavian artery, all vital and vulnerable... which shall I pick?" Zabuza voiced out in mock contemplation.

"I would suggest forearm because it's easier to heal," Shirayuki proposed, trying to make Zabuza answer so she could pinpoint where he was. She heard a groan from Sasuke along with a sigh coming from Kakashi.

Kakashi was two miles away from her to the left while Sasuke was right behind her.

"Annoying. You'll be the first to go, brat," Zabuza disparaged. While Shrayuki felt terror down her spines, she was rewarded by the knowledge of exactly where he was. Six feet to her left... near Tazuna.

Springing into action, Shirayuki leapt away and sprinted over as quickly as possible. Kakashi may think Zabuza would eliminate him first but Shirayuki wouldn't put it pass an assassin to murder his target as quickly as possible.

As for mentioned, Shirayuki never did really submerged herself into the belief that she was, in fact, living in a fictional world. It was extremely difficult to believe in, highly unexplainable, but nonetheless happening.

"YUKI-CHAN!" Naruto screamed just as Shirayuki intercepted the attack with her abdomen. It was horrible, dying before had been a fantasy. But as the knife struck her and tore through the skin and tissues, Shirayuki wondered if her death in her last life was the first of many tortures she would have to endure...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "Oh my lord," Shirayuki murmured, "I was nearly dead, I can die."
> 
> She held a hand and brought it towards her bandaged abdomen, she can die, she can actually die. It was real, it was truly real. This wasn't her imagination, she was really, really reborn into a world where killing was a job. This made her freeze. If she didn't buck up her training- she could very well die.  
> -
> 
> A/N: Akage is broken down into Aka and Kage; Aka meaning red and Kage meaning shadow.
> 
> As we know, Anastasia was Shirayuki's name in her last life. Not only does Anastasia mean "To be reborn" or "Ressurection", there was a woman of royal blood named Anastasia Romanov who was supposedly said to have survived the massacre of her family. Shirayuki believed herself as red, red being the colour of fire and blood. She believes for the fact that her mother was a fire in her darkness and the blood she had was not of hers. Thus derived the name Aka. Adding to the fact she died and was reincarnated, red was a fitting role.
> 
> Additionally to that, in Akage no Anne we see a girl named Anne who has a short temper and a vast imagination. That's where I got the name from originally. With Shirayuki being a person who was easily riled up and how she was strategic, I decided upon the name Akage. Additionally, Anne is a bit bold. Her words are harsher than others. More often than not, she resorts to violence or telling people off, she doesn't care what others may draw about her, what she cares about is herself. Much like Shirayuki who has no qualms with expressing her brutal opinions on matters she disagrees on.
> 
> Kage is due to the fact she is a Nara. Simple.
> 
> Akage also can be seen that someone who is named so shows that their instincts are usually very sharp. And not many would understand those who bear the name Akage unless they pay specific attention to. This indicates the fact Shirayuki deem the most important thing in life to be none other than understanding. Forgiving, Loyalty, Money, as much as she may think of those as importance, to Shirayuki, understanding something is what would save everyone.
> 
> In conclusion, Akage literally means red shadow. But in Shirayuki's mind, it symbolises both her previous life and her new one. It was the name that breaches between two worlds, as the books she would write combines both the modern world she came from and the old world she was reborn into, Akage was her horizon, where the sky meets the sea.


	10. Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shirayuki woke up, a little weirded out but all the same... perhaps.

As soon as Shirayuki's body hit the ground wheezing, her hands were subconsciously cradling the wound and body angled defensive against the opponent. However, Naruto's eyes were fixed on the fact her wound was red, red like the roses he used to see in Yamanaka Florist, like the hair colour of a woman he sometimes dreamt of, red like blood.

Then, Naruto Uzumaki exploded like a volcano.

He went on a rampage, he didn't care if he was suddenly emitting physical chakra, he didn't care if his skin were peeling off, or how his eyes bled red and whiskers thickened. He only knew that Shirayuki, _his only friend,_ the only person to ever stick by him and was always honest- was bleeding. **_And it was all because of that man._**

Naruto ploughs his way through the mist, he snarled like a feral beast and lunged at the man responsible for his best friend's plight. He could care less if the man was going to die, he couldn't care less if the man was currently having his head ripped off from his body by Naruto's own bare hands, Naruto was only focused on the fact this man killed his friend. His friend was **dead** because of him... and _Naruto was going to make him pay._

* * *

Death is the cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. No one truly knew what lies beyond death. There are assumptions, beliefs and statements- but never would someone truly understand the concept of the complexion of an action known as dying.

Shirayuki, previously known as Anastasia, was no different.

Her subconscious refutation of truly believing she was reborn into another world was strong enough to influence her concept of what's alright and what was not. It caused her to dilute her views on whether or not one thing was considered safe and whether she could truly feel pain and actually die in this vision of hers.

Shirayuki was more of thinking whether or not this was what she was truly witnessing a form of afterlife- or was she locked up in an asylum while experiencing schizophrenia of the greatest.

But, the pain never lies. It can be tricked, but it does not have the ability to lie.

* * *

When Shirayuki woke up, her mind was blank, eyes dully staring up at the ceiling and then something snapped. Shirayuki started laughing, hysterically at that, tears started streaming down the hollow of her cheeks and her hands started to wipe her tears away furiously. She stopped her laughter soon after and Shirayuki started to sit up.

"Oh my lord," Shirayuki murmured, "I was nearly dead, I can die."

She held a hand and brought it towards her bandaged abdomen, she can die, she can actually die. It was real, it was truly real. This wasn't her imagination, she was really, really reborn into a world where killing was a job. This made her freeze. If she didn't buck up her training- she could very well die.

"Of course you can die, you fool!"

Shirayuki snapped her tear stained face up to look at her teacher, "Kakashi-sensei..."

"What were you thinking?!" Kakashi yelled at her, setting his foot down, "I expect you to protect the client but I do not expect you to throw your life away!"

Shirayuki kept quiet. The look of utter despondency and distress etched into the very face of her teacher kept her quiet. She was shocked, of course, she never expects to fully develop relationships with anyone in this world. She never truly did comprehend the fact this was all real, blood, breathing- everything was real.

"I-i," Shirayuki swallowed, eyes tearing, "I have a condition before."

Honestly, if there was anyone she could possibly trust aside from her parents would be her teacher; The man who has her very life as his responsibility. Who had his face etched with revulsion of his own action that hindered his ability to keep her from harm even when she was clearly just his comrade and student?

"I always thought of myself as crazy, I never really believed I was alive- living, you see. I have a hard time assimilating that this was all real, this wasn't some fucked up shit I cooked up," Shirayuki rambled on, "When the Uchiha Massacre happened, I'm sure the whole of Konoha knew that I was hospitalized. Thing is, I felt guilty. So guilty over it, even when it had absolutely nothing to do with me- and I just... stopped. My mind died, I couldn't genuinely feel that I was actually living- then this happened."

Kakashi closed his eyes and sat down beside his student.

"Has Shikaku taken you to take a test on your intelligence recently?" He asked. Shirayuki answered, "Yes, about two weeks ago with Shikamaru."

"And what was the result?" Kakashi prodded. Shirayuki thought about why he was asking about it for awhile before answering, "218."

"And what did Shikaku or your father say afterwards?"

"That..." Shirayuki hesitated, "That all Naras have a genetic problem wherein the higher their intelligence is, the more disorders they would be diagnosed with. The disorders may range from being extremely harmless to fatal."

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded, "And I believe, you have a problem where you start blaming yourself for things you should not feel entitled to. You're not the first to experience such a thing..."

Shirayuki blinked when her teacher paused, a grimace on his face.

"My father... was also someone who experienced from this. My grandmother was a Nara and had her genes directed down to him and... the problem never really caused anything heavy up til... a fated mission... which resulted in an inevitable suicide that cost his life," Kakashi disclosed dully.

"Oh," Shirayuki murmured, "Thank you for sharing... and I'm sorry for your loss, sensei."

"It's alright. But, I want you to promise me to change, alright, Shirayuki?" Kakashi asked. Shirayuki bobbed her head, "...Alright."

* * *

Dinner was a silent affair. Naruto kept shooting her troubled glances, he looked as if he wanted to express something but is unable to put them into proper words. Sasuke just ate stiffly, like someone stuck a long pole up his arse and superglued it. Shirayuki swithered as to whether or not she should ask a question and breathed.

"What happened after I got myself injured?"

Naruto immediately went stone still, he mumbled something incoherently under his breath. Sasuke was the one who answered the question, "Naruto went blastic and killed Zabuza while Kakashi-sensei killed the accomplice who was hidden."

Oh, Shirayuki thought, she messed up the timeline already. Naruto had his first kill and Zabuza was killed early. But... where does this leave them now? Shirayuki nodded, "Where... no, what are we to do now?"

"Assassination," Kakashi responded, "Further details will be discussed in a private setting later tonight."

"Alright."

* * *

Shirayuki blanked. She actually messed up the timeline, she knew she did. Zabuza was murdered as was his accomplice. Shirayuki swore that in the original work, there was supposed to be two encounters between Team seven and Zabuza. But now that was not to be, Zabuza was dead _(Deadeadeadeadeadeadeadead) a_ nd Shirayuki was probably still hurt.

So what were they going to do?

There are two possibilities, go an extra length for the mission objective or stick to it and protect Tazuna. Knowing team 7, they would most likely be subjected to the earlier. The ratio was unbalanced.

"Shirayuki..." Said girl snapped her head up to look at a downtrodden Naruto. Naruto was shuffling awkwardly, he was trying to say something but unable to. Shirayuki remembered what Sasuke had said earlier, Naruto had killed because of her, he had his first kill because she was stupid and dumb enough to try to subconsciously delude herself into thinking this is all in her brain.

"Naruto... Come here," Shirayuki beckoned the disgruntled boy over, she tucked him forward and for the first time in this lifetime, she initiated a hug towards someone who wasn't a member of her family.

Naruto broke down the moment her hands were around him. It wasn't a pretty sight, his eyes were squeezed shut and his nose was full of snot. But at this moment, Shirayuki couldn't care less, this was someone who was willing to kill because she had gotten hurt. How many people can say they got a friend who was willing to murder because of them, how many people can say that? Shirayuki was going to be damned before she would ever abandon Naruto, this was her friend, her best friend.

Unknowingly to her, Shirayuki started to cry too. 

* * *

Kakashi Hatake, the man who was placed in charge of Team 7, stood outside the door of where two of his students were having a mental breakdown. One was suffering from the fact he had killed, his friend had been very nearly killed while the other was just as bad.

Team 7 was truly broken beyond repair, while Shirayuki may have the most luxurious life out of all of them, she had the worse disorder among all the Nara to ever exist. Sasuke had his whole clan massacred by his own brother. Naruto was the pariah of the village. And him... well...

Kakashi brought a hand up to cover his eyes, listening to the heartbreaking sobs of Naruto. Everyone around him was always this bad, everyone around him always had problems. Team 7 was a cursed team, no doubt, and Kakashi couldn't help to hate the Hokage a little for assigning him to this team. But most of all, he couldn't help but hate himself for being a bad teacher.

"Oh, Minato-sensei... what am I going to do?" 

* * *

"You're an idiot," Was the first thing Sasuke said to Shirayuki when they were alone. Shirayuki blinked before huffing, "That's not a nice thing to say to someone who was stabbed."

"Good," Sasuke responded smugly, "Then maybe next time you'll remember to not get stab so you don't receive such words."

"...Is that your roundabout way of saying you care about me?" Shirayuki questioned dryly, looking at the social stunt boy. Well, not like she could say much. Sasuke scoffed, "You wished."

Naruto poked his head out from beneath Shirayuki's blanket, having fallen asleep hours ago, "I think he's shy, Yuki-chan."

Shirayuki patted her friend on his head, "Yes, yes he is, Naru-kun. Don't worry about poor, shy, Uke-chan."

" _Uke-chan?_ " Sasuke spluttered, "Excuse me? Don't call me that. And what are you doing under her blanket, Naruto."

"Eh, you wanna join too, uke-chan?" Naruto asked. Shirayuki paused before breaking down into hysterical laughter. Sasuke picked up a fallen pillow and threw. It slammed Shirayuki in her face, _straight_.

"PILLOW FIGHT! BRING IT ON, DUCK ASS." 

* * *

"Well, here's what we're going to do," Kakashi said, "We're going to invade the headquarters of Gato. I managed to salvage a floorplan of the headquarters, I expect all of you to follow my orders, any insubordination and you're out of the ninja program."

Shirayuki gulped, this was Kakashi no Sharingan, the feared man of Konoha, this wasn't nice old, Kakashi-sensei, this was the ANBU Captain.

"Sasuke and Naruto," Kakashi addressed, the two boys immediately gave their full attention to Kakashi, "You're going to clear a path, make sure to clear the fifth floor of all bodyguards. I will be doing the assassination and that is the crucial part to make sure no man is in the clearing. I have no fear you will use any means to ensure absolute success."

_Kill those hindering our goal._

"Shirayuki," Kakashi called. Shirayuki blinked and snapped her eyes towards him, "Your job is to clean up after these boys. Once they're on the floor, you make sure to get all entrance and exits on lockdown, make sure no one enters or leave the compound. I hope I can count on you."

"Hai, sensei." 

* * *

" _Team 7, Kakashi in, I will be entering the compound after you've finished your part. Do not worry about how I will be entering,"_ Kakashi informed through their earpiece. Shirayuki responded just as the other two beside her did. Shirayuki reached for both their hands and squeezed before letting go, " _Ready, Team 7? Go!"_

Naruto jumped down from the tree after Sasuke with Shirayuki towing behind a good meter. She scanned the area, she was going to make sure her duty was fixed, she was going to make sure she didn't fuck up her job. Shirayuki sped up slightly so she could seal the door faster. As soon as they invade the fifth floor, she made a shadow clone and split in two directions, from the map, it showed two entrance, both at the end of the road. They entered through a window slightly closer to the right, so if her clone were to disperse, she could easily shushin over as they were on the same floor.

"Who are you?!" A man shouted. Shirayuki grimaced and captured his shadow, "Sorry, I can't allow you to live."

She reached her hand to her back, his hands mimicked hers and sheath his sword. Shirayuki brought her hand up close to her neck and made a motion to slice off her head. Her eyes were dilated and breathed heavier as his head rolled off. She didn't wait any longer before running further, she had a door to seal, fuck her conscience.

As soon as she arrived at the door, it was easy to know how she was going to seal it. Gato, that fool, made his doors out of steel. Her hands formed a series of hand seals she saw Sasuke performed time after time, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

It wasn't as perfected as Sasuke's, of course, but Shirayuki said she did a good job when the door started to melt. As soon as the hinges melt and the door stuck itself against the wall, Shirayuki's hands flashed through another series of hand seals, "Suiton: Suigadan."

Thank you, science.

Shirayuki disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as the water cools down the melting metal.

* * *

**Filler: In Which Iruka Had Somehow Decided That Shirayuki Would Make A Good Tuition Teacher**

Naruto fidgeted in his seat, his palms were sweaty and eyes kept staring ahead before shrinking in terror. Well, no one could really fault him, the poor boy was seated in front of most likely the devil himself at this very moment, said devil was one Shirayuki Nara. You see, while it is not so recognized, Shirayuki was quite the sadist... actually, she was very sadistic.

Said girl was seated in front of Naruto, in front of him were scattered pieces of homework they had gotten for the past few months. That wasn't really the problem, the problem was, in front of Shirayuki was a nice, big bowl of pork ramen. _Piping, steaming, hot and delicious ramen_. And the thing was... _Naruto can't touch it unless you did his homework up to Shirayuki's standards._

"If you don't finish that maths question in the next one minute, I will eat this ramen," Shirayuki informed, digging the chopsticks she had gotten into the dish. Naruto watched and swallowed his saliva, did he mention said ramen was from Ichiraku Ramen? Naruto squeezes his eyes shut before staring down at the _dreadful_ question.

Naruto quickly finished the question about the precision of kunai equivalent to the speed of the kunai. He handed his worksheet to Shirayuki. She scanned the paper, the answer was correct and he did it under a minute... _Shirayuki ate the ramen anyway._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "Shirayuki?" Sasuke poked her, "Are you okay?"
> 
> Shirayuki was leaning against him, her face tinted red, "Sasuke... did you see how cute that boy was? He had a beautiful shade of hair colour and oh my gosh, he looked so cute."
> 
> Naruto blanched, "You think that creep is cute?"
> 
> "Naruto, he's adorable, like a panda!" Shirayuki babbled before pausing, "...Do you think if I confessed he would accept?"
> 
> "NO!" Naruto yelled, horrified by the fact his friend wanted to confess to that creep, "You're going to die!"
> 
> "But... he's adorable." Shirayuki defended weakly. Sasuke facepalmed. 
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: Eh... I think I'm going for no pairing. I don't know, I actually have a feeling that if there's a pairing, it's probably going to be an arranged marriage for political uses, chances are she's not marrying out of love or no pairing at all. Well, what do you think about this chapter :) Very sorry about the very late update, I was... distracted?


	11. Foreigners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did you know, doing a mission that is near traumatising does things to people? Bonds that are build up from that can never be broken.

"Mission report," was what a tired but otherwise monotonous voice said. There was the sound of paper shifting from within the dimly lit room before the release of a heavy sigh. An old man was seated behind the large table with a tobacco in his mouth and hands entwined, "Proceed, Jounin Leader Kakashi Hatake."

"Infiltrated Gato's hideout proceeded with operation 36071 and the whole area was under the wiped out protocol," Kakashi narrated dully. While his mouth was reciting the events that occurred a few days ago, his mind was fixed on the condition of his students. Or more specifically, Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto was a lonely but still relatively naive child as compared to Sasuke and for some odd reason, Shirayuki. Naruto showed a child-like thinking unlike the other two. When he realised that the mission was going to entitle him to shed his humanity and wipe people out, it had been fine. Up until the end and then they see Naruto puking his guts out the entire time. Not to mention the incident with Kyuubi when he thought Shirayuki was dead.

"And the genin?" Hokage-sama asked quietly. There was a ringing silence that hung in the air before Kakashi cut it like butter, "Shirayuki Nara, conditioned with chakra and mental exhaustion. Kill count is more than a hundred but remain at estimation."

Kakashi could hear the intake of breath from the Hokage, he couldn't fault the old man because he himself had been shocked but understanding. At her age, he had already been in the crucial part of the war and was having more kill count than her on daily basis. Still, it was almost unheard of in the peaceful era that a child like herself killed that many. Regardless of his internal turmoil, Kakashi continued on with his report on the Genin, "Sasuke Uchiha, eyesight condition that is suspected to relate to semi-awakened Sharingan. While not taken form just yet, it seems that Sasuke is on the road to awakening it but is unable to due to blockage of unknown. Kill count, a little under a hundred."

"And the final genin?"

This one Kakashi had to pause because Naruto was the one he was worried about the most, "Naruto Uzumaki, a severe degree of burn, stamina exhaustion and... kill count of over two hundred. Kyuubi had been escaped when Shirayuki Nara was severely injured by A-ranked Zabuza Momochi."

"I see... you may be dismissed," Hokage-sama commanded tiredly. Kakashi dipped his head before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. 

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he expected to be greeted by the familiar ceiling and surrounded by an empty feeling. He most certainly did not expect to be pressed in the middle of two people and see the face of one Sasuke Uchiha. He also did not expect to be in somewhere other than his room, or that the small bed surprisingly fit the three of them

"Stop moving, Naru-Naru," Shirayuki whined before snuggling closer to him. Naruto stared at the ceiling blearily before jolting awake, "Hold on, what the heck am I doing here, dattebayo?"

"Shut up and go back to sleep, dope," Came Sasuke's sleepy order, not with the amount of heat he usually used. Naruto blinked at him incredulously before making a strangled noise. He turned to his left and found Shirayuki clinging to his waist (Oh, so that was what it was.) almost desperately and her nose buried in his torso. Sasuke had his arms wrapped tightly around Naruto's chest and leg crossover over his and tangled up with Shirayuki's.

"Eh, whatever," Naruto mumbled before dropping back down onto the pillow. As the three fourteen-year-olds fall asleep, they unconsciously moved closer towards each other to seek comfort from one another. When their teacher in all his masked glory came to see what was up, he didn't have the heart to wake them up. If someone ended up noticing (which was highly impossible) a figure sitting on the tree outside with an orange book in hand, no one mentioned anything.

* * *

 _"_ Okay, listen up my cute students," Kakashi smiled with his hands clasped together. His 'cute' students all gave him their own version of an annoyed look.

"Pedophile," Shirayuki commented dryly.

"Pervert," Sasuke said with a twitch in his eye. 

"Exhibitionist," Naruto piped in easily. 

Kakashi got a cloud of gloom hanging over him as he mumbled something incoherent under his breath. Shirayuki scoffed at the display before seating herself on the rail. Sasuke leaned back with his hands in his pocket, levelling his sorry excuse of a perverted teacher with an unimpressed look. Naruto plopped himself on the floor with his hands entwined behind his back and had a grin on his face. 

"Why are my students so mean to me?" Kakashi whined before coughing into his hand, "Anyways, I'm here to inform you about a certain event that I will ensure you participate in. The Chunin Exams."

"What's that?" Questioned Naruto in a confused tone. Shirayuki rolled her eyes before kicking his back lightly, "Naruto. What are the ranks of Konoha Nin?"

"Uhm, Genin, Chunin, Jonin and ANBU?" Mario answered. Sasuke rolled his eyes too, "Dobe. What rank are you now?"

"Genin, dattebayo," he answered easily, verbal tic slipping in.. Both Sasuke and Shirayuki tapped their heads, asking it him to use whatever was up there, "And what did you take before you graduate from the Academy?"

"An exam–oh, I get it," Naruto chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his head. Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh as the idiot of the group finally got it. 

"Yes, so we need to buck your training up," Kakashi smiled sadistically from behind his annoying mask. Shirayuki paled. Sasuke froze. And Naruto wondered how much Ramen he could eat within his numbered days. 

"Ah, I think mom's calling–" Shirayuki turned to leave only to be cut off by an amused tone, "Oh? I don't think so, I already informed her and she said that I was free to do whatever I want with your for the next few weeks."

Shirayuki resisted the urge to whimper before glaring at her teacher, "... I will scream rape."

"Sasuke, Naruto, if you don't capture her and make sure she doesn't speak then I will double your training regime," Kakashi interjected smoothly. 

"YOU TRAITORS!" 

* * *

"My legs, I can't feel them!" Naruto complained, laying on the ground panting. Shirayuki closed her eyes, "I think I can see heaven."

"I can see something pink, I think," Sasuke mumbled. Shirayuki snorted, "I think you're being greeted by hell, Uke-chan."

"Don't call me that Bakayuki," Sasuke snapped. Naruto snickered before mocking them, "So childish, dattebayo."

"Shut up, dobe." "Fuck off, Kenzaku-kun."

"Don't call me that," Naruto mumbled. 

"Now, now, I was going easy on you guys," Kakashi condescended, giving them a mock disappointed look. Sasuke glared at him pointedly while Shirayuki just flipped both her middle fingers. 

Kakashi ignored them, "I heard that a boy named Konohamaru is looking for his boss."

"You're still letting him call you boss?" Shirayuki questioned Naruto incredulously. Naruto laughed boisterously, "I couldn't get him to stop, dattebayo!"

 _"I'm sure,"_  Sasuke hissed in annoyance. 

"Well, why don't you go and see him?" Kakashi suggested before disappearing in a giggle. Shirayuki made a disgusted face, "I wonder if castration on a teacher is illegal." Both Sasuke and Naruto took multiple steps away from the plotting female, face pale and palm sweating.

* * *

"Boss!"

Shirayuki leaned against the tree bark while sitting beside Sasuke as the both of them sat on a branch. Naruto jumped down from beside them, landing beside a startled Konohamaru and his gang. He grinned, "Yo, Konohamaru. I heard you were looking for me, dattebayo."

"I was!" Konohamaru nodded, "Here! Let me introduce my friends!"

"...Mothergoose and her ducklings," Sasuke commented wryly as Naruto walked towards the park with three little kids in tow. Shirayuki swore that she didn't choke on her spit right there and then, it was a trick of sound. Sasuke refrained from snickering too much at her vehement denial.

"Do you feel that?" Shirayuki asked, a cold feeling washing up her spine and her senses went skyrocket. Sasuke gave her a look, body stiffened with anticipation and slightly trembling in excitement. Shirayuki could see why to a certain extent, the bloodlust; It was crazy and extremely familiar. Shirayuki jumped down from the tree immediately with Sasuke following behind her. Soon, the both of them rushed towards where the source of their alert was from.

"It's Naruto," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion and caution, "Something is up."

"Lead the way, Sasuke." 

* * *

"Ne, Boss," Konohamaru called out sadly. Naruto regarded him with a questioning look, "Yes?"

"Can we play Ninja?" He asked hopefully, two of his friends by his side with similar expressions. Naruto stared at the scene with a twinge of guilt; Ever since he went on that mission to wave, he hardly found the time to play with the kids. Every day was training, food and spending quality time with his other teammates (the last making him so much happier than people would ever expect). 

"Sure," Naruto grinned, "In fact, I'll be the missing-nin today, dattebayo."

"Really?!" Konohamaru exclaimed in excitement. Seeing his brother in all but name and blood nod, the grandson of Hokage-sama rounded up on his friends, "Okay, men!"

"And woman!" Moegi, the lone female of the team demanded poutingly. 

"And women," Konohamaru corrected himself glumly before brightening up again, "We have a missing-nin to capture!"

"Yes, sir!" 

Naruto snickered, how long has it been since he was under the delusion where he thought it would be simple to catch a missing-nin? In reality, it's difficult to even escort and ensure absolute protection... Much less easy. Fighting Zabuba had been an absolute nightmare. 

"Ah! Let me go!" 

Naruto froze, he turned and saw the little kid that chased him around being suspended by air. Within seconds, we see Naruto snarling before he lunged at the man in fury. Unknowingly to him, the bloodlust of the demon kept within him leaked out and surrounded his person like a flare. 

The bully who suspended boy squeaked in fear, face paling drastically as he stared at the attacking boy in terror. Fortunately for him, Sasuke and Shirayuki arrived just in time to see Naruto going in for an attack on the boy. 

"Naruto!" Shirayuki shouted, trying to get through with him. Sasuke wasted no time dashing forward to tackle the boy to the ground, his mind fixed on when Naruto decided to reveal his secret to them. 

"Dobe, don't cause so much trouble for us," Sasuke stated almost hissingly as soon as Naruto calmed down. Shirayuki gathered the children closer to her before glaring at the foreign ninjas, "Explain yourself,  _guest."_

Sasuke cocked his head with a silent question, holstering Naruto up before walking towards Shirayuki. Said girl looked at him before glancing up at her headband. Sasuke peered at the two foreign ninjas, noticing their headband bearing the symbol of Sunagakure. 

"Listen, that brat started it–" The boy denied, trying to hold his ground. Shirayuki scowled before leaping forward. She looked like a blur of shadow, the next thing that happened was that she held the boy by his throat and had a kunai pressed to his throat, "I have you know that if I were to murder you this instance, no one would question me why. Because you had very nearly just started a war against Konoha when you lay a hand on the grandson of Hokage-same. Or do the barbarians there deem it necessary to outright assault another country's civilians?"

Kankuro gulped, trying to talk back. His sister, trembling in fright, shook her head frantically before hissing, "Drop it, Kan–"

"Kankuro." A cold and monotonous voice hissed. Shirayuki brought a hand up to calm an agitated Sasuke. The owner of said voice had blood red hair, eye bags that could only be the result of severe insomnia, dull green eyes and a board behind. He jumped down from his position before advancing closer to the group, "You're embarrassing our village."

"Gaara! But they–" Kankuro started to speak, obviously more terrified of the other as compared to Shirayuki. Scowling, she pulled back and stood guard in front of the terrified children. 

"Shut up," Gaara ordered darkly, "Let's leave."

"And not allow us to demand anything?" Sasuke hissed, "After you outright insult our ninja and then assault one of the civilians?"

It seems that Naruto and Konohamaru filled Sasuke with details for the whole build up to the fight. Konohamaru was running away from Naruto when he accidentally ran into the suna nin. He had apologized immediately but was not only refuted but forced to listen to the other boy complaining about Konoha nin being weak. So Konohamaru defended the ninja and was suspended. That was when Naruto stepped in and the rest was history. 

The Red-haired boy regarded them coolly, "What are your names."

Shirayuki narrowed her eyes, "None of your fucking business." Surprisingly, she hadn't been the only one to say it. Sasuke hissed out in the exact same manner along with Naruto who raised his head, arms still around the dark-haired boy's shoulder. Gaara turned away before disappearing, it seems that he didn't want to waste any time if they weren't going to cooperate. 

"That's Subaku no Gaara," Shirayuki supplied, "Son of the current Kazekage."

"He's like me," Naruto mumbled under his breath. Sasuke snapped his eyes to Naruto in surprised, "As in...?"

"Yeah, he feels weaker though... Very much weaker," Naruto furrowed his brows in confusion, "Like he's the weakest among the few."

"Wah, he was so scary," Konohamaru blurted out, breaking the atmosphere. Shirayuki glanced at him before smirking. She leaned herself against Sasuke, pretending to be flushed. 

"Shirayuki?" Sasuke poked her with his elbow, "Are you okay?"

Shirayuki was leaning against him, her face forced itself to be tinted red, "Sasuke... did you see how cute that boy was? He had a beautiful shade of hair colour and oh my gosh, he looked so cute."

Naruto blanched, "You think that creep is cute?"

"Naruto, he's adorable, like a panda!" Shirayuki babbled, glancing over to the kids to see the mood lighten up immediately, "...Do you think if I confessed he would accept?"

"NO!" Naruto yelled, horrified by the fact his friend wanted to confess to that creep, "You're going to die!"

"But... he's adorable." Shirayuki defended weakly, smiling wryly.  Sasuke facepalmed and wonder what has become of his life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:  
> "Sasuke-kun~"
> 
> Two girls, one blonde and the other a pink head, dashed forward with all intention of tackling Sasuke. As soon as they came within the vicinity, two legs shot out to kick the girls away by their feet. Two people flanked the boy's side, snorting in amusement. 
> 
> "Listen, bimbos," Shirayuki grinned slyly, "Sasuke ain't yours. He's ours."
> 
> "Excuse me?" Sasuke questioned dryly, swatting her head off his shoulder. Shirayuki made a mock hurt look, turning to Naruto, "Naru-Naru! He's denying our passionate love, claiming that he wishes to be with the bimbos!"
> 
> "There, there, Yuki-chan," Naruto patted Shirayuki on the back, "Don't worry about the teme. He's a tsundere, remember?"
> 
> Shirayuki snickered before adding, "Believe it."
> 
> "Shut up," Sasuke scowled.  
> -  
> A/N: From hence chapter forth, all Naruto, Sasuke and Shirayuki's interactions should be classified as "OOC". Of course, I won't make Sasuke fall deeply in love with Anko and start having hot passionate sex or something but it will be shown that he doesn't have the same broody son of a bitch personality anymore kind of thing. And this chapter is dedicated to who TheWitch444 pointed out that Sasuke didn't get the Sharingan. Before you ask, there's a reason for this and don't start telling me that killing someone would make him awaken it or anything because please just be patient with me and wait for what I've planned for that. On one note, this is an alternate universe (again, I will tell y'all) and things will not be as canon. Anyways, HERE'S YOUR LONG AWAITED CHAPTER. Thank you for being with me all this time. I hope that the chapter is up to your standards :)


	12. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sharingan, Exams, Bastard Blonde and Spies. Oh, Shirayuki, you just have to make it complicated, don't you?

"Hold on," Shirayuki lifted herself into a sitting position from where she dangled upside down on a branch. She pushed herself forward before falling steadily on the ground, chakra balancing on the sole of her feet to grip the ground tightly. Sasuke and Naruto paused their spar, looking at her with a curious expression. 

"Don't get mad at me for this, Sasuke," Shirayuki started, eyes narrowing in thought. Sasuke tensed at her words but said nothing, motioning for her to continue. Satisfied at the response, Shirayuki opened her mouth once more, "Why haven't you gotten your Sharingan the night of the massacre?"

At first, Sasuke seems to coil up like a snake when it's ready to strike. Natural chose to remain silent, which was a smart move on his part. Shirayuki merely stared at him, ready to accept any blow aimed at her body. Then Sasuke calmed down, breathing heavily. 

"I don't know."

He said it in such vulnerability and disgust that Shirayuki was almost regretful about asking him. But she can't, she fucked up the plot enough so that he didn't awaken Sharingan during mid-battle in Wave, and she knew how much importance it played when he was in the Chunin Exams. So, she needed to awaken it, and it always did confuse her why his Sharingan didn't awaken that tragic night. 

"I think you've already awakened it," Shirayuki said. Her mind chasing around the data she knew and the data she created. Sharingan can usually be awakened after a traumatic incident, and killing someone should further evolve it. There's a chance Sasuke had already awaken it but... Someone may have been blocking it. 

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Sasuke seemed to be glad that he didn't have to ask the question. Shirayuki picked a stick before crouching down, her hands moved. 

"Sharingan can be awakened through experience, traumatic incidents and murder," Shirayuki narrated, catching both their eyes, "Seeing how Sasuke had all three, perhaps only slightly lacking in the first field. He should have awakened it."

"How do you know all this?" Sasuke questioned her, facial expression pulled into a disturbed one. Shirayuki froze, looking like a deer caught in headlights. She wrecked her mind to come up with an excuse, quick to figure out an excuse to throw at the patiently waiting boys, "I read a lot. And I listen, gossiping mothers, rumours. It doesn't take long for me to put the pieces together."

"Of fucking course," Sasuke snorted, "You're a Nara through and through."

"I don't remember you behind that crass," Shirayuki scowled, "And that seems more like an insult than a compliment."

"Hn."

"Fuck your stupid duck language," Shirayuki snarked back before putting the stick down. She looked at Sasuke seriously, "Try focusing your chakra around your eyes or at least the area around it."

"What?" Sasuke furrowed his brows. Shirayuki rolled her eyes, "That's how Byakuran is activated. The scrolls in the library said that Sharingan is activated in a similar way."

"Alright," Sasuke tested. Both Shirayuki and Naruto focused on their friend, ears peeled and gaze fixed. Sasuke's eyes flickered a little and there was a hint of red before going back normal. 

"I got it!" Shirayuki grin, she held her hand up before focusing as much chakra as she could without dying of exhaustion, "Kai!"

And it worked. The next thing everyone knew was that Sasuke's eyes were the familiar shape of Sharingan but with three tomes. He blinked at the sudden slowing of movement before rubbing his eyes. 

"What the fuck?" Naruto blurted out. Shirayuki grinned, "Don't you see! He had Sharingan this entire time! Someone must have placed some sort Genjutsu to keep it hidden and inactive. But Sharingan is part of your fucking anatomy, so it will evolve as time passed. In other words, you probably had Sharingan since that night!"

Naruto gaped before spluttering, "But who would–"

 ** _"Itachi,"_**  Sasuke snarled, clenching his fist tightly. Shirayuki frowned at the sudden mood change before snapping her fingers, "We'll deal with that later, now get me to the hospital."

And then Shirayuki promptly passed out from Chakra exhaustion. 

* * *

"I thought the two of you would have made sure she didn't do stupid shit like this," Kakashi commented dryly as he perched on the window. Both boys gave their teacher a look of utter disbelief, Kakashi was proud to say he knew what they were trying to say. 

"What did she do this time?" Kakashi breathed out in resignation. Naruto glanced at Sasuke quietly, shifting awkwardly where he stood. Sasuke frowned but looked at Kakashi. Kakashi placed his book down because his students looked serious and that meant something was going to happen. 

And something did because the next thing that happened stunned Kakashi. Sasuke closed his eyes for a brief moment before snapping them open to reveal red orbs. Kakashi stared before scowling, "She didn't."

"Shirayuki figured out Sasuke's weird eye thingy," Naruto mumbled, "And then she did this Kai thing and then he had red eyes."

"She said that there was something blocking it. You have to ask her for further details, we don't really know much and I'm not a genius," Sasuke scowled harder at the last sentence. As much as he hated to admit, he wasn't a genius like Shirayuki and Shikamaru nor was he a prodigy like Itachi or his sensei. 

"No, I think I got it," Kakashi shook his head. Sasuke had to give it to the man, he was truly a prodigy to get it from what little knowledge they gave him. Or maybe he already had a speculation from before and this only confirmed it. Sasuke frowned, he was slightly jealous of the two. 

"What the fuck happened to my cousin?"

A venomous, deep voice snapped from behind them. Sasuke and Naruto turned around to see a furious looking Shikamaru, which was a rare sight indeed. He glared at all the occupants in the room before stalking forward, pushing his way in between the two boys before taking the only seat located right beside her bed. 

"She passed out," Kakashi supplied curtly. Shikamaru frowned, "Why?"

"Chakra exhaustion," Naruto replied. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, his mind working far faster than Shirayuki did. As he looked at Sasuke's awaken Sharingan and his cousin who was passed out, he made the connection. "She found a way to forcibly awaken your Sharingan."

"How did you–" Sasuke cut himself off before he could really start and snarled, " _Fucking Naras."_

Shikamaru turned to Shirayuki before taking her hand. The next words that came out of his mouth befuddled everyone who was standing in the audience. Because he seemingly spoke another language.  **"When are you going to wake up, Anya?"**

"You spoke another language," Kakashi stated. Shikamaru nodded, "Yeah. Shirayuki made it when we were really young and we got taught."

"Aniya?" Naruto tested the name. Shikamaru snorted, "That's a name she demanded I call her by when I spoke that language."

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, blinking at him. Shikamaru scowled, "Things you don't need to know."

"Son of a bitch,"Shirayuki jolted awake with a grunt before groaning in pain. She slammed back down on the bed before her face contorted into one of difficulty. Slowly, she turned her head towards Shikamaru, "Yo?"

"Don't just 'yo' me, you suicidal ass hat," Shikamaru snapped, scowling at his cousin. Shirayuki winced before turning to Naruto, "How long was I out?"

"Seven hours," Naruto replied. 

"Ah."

 **"You better tell me the fuck happened that cause you to do this,"** Shikamaru demanded harshly. Shirayuki paled at the familiar words of English before replying,  **"I'll tell you at home. Don't tell mom or dad though, they'd freak."**

 **"I'll tell them if you don't tell me word by word what happened,"** Shikamaru threatened. Shirayuki nodded frantically, "Okay."

"What are you guys even talking about?" Sasuke demanded, scowling at his female teammate. Shirayuki laughed sheepishly, "Eh... Stuff?"

"Hn," Sasuke frowned before straightening up, "I need to go. Take care, you brute."

"Yes, yes," Shirayuki rolled her eyes, "See you tomorrow, duck ass."

"Bye, Yuki-chan!" Naruto waved before making his way out. Shikamaru stayed behind and looked at Shirayuki, "You'll be discharged tomorrow, I'll tell your parents that you're staying over at a friend's."

"Thanks, Maru."

* * *

"Wah, I hate hospitals," Shirayuki complained, dragging her feet out into the hospital garden. She had another hour more before she was allowed to be officially discharged, it was absolutely horrible to be cooped up in the hospital. As soon as she saw a tree, her body seems to have a mind of its own because the next the Shirayuki knew was that she was already halfway up the tree. Once she reached the top, she automatically perched herself on the branch. 

"Now, who might you be?"

Shirayuki was promptly startled as a sudden silvery voice spoke from behind her. Fortunately for her, she was in the same zone of Konoha and as thus, not caught off guard by an enemy. Unfortunately, as she was unable to use chakra at the moment, Shirayuki fell off the branch. 

"Oh fuck!" She fell out her seat and quickly tried to grasp something to stabilize her fall. Unfortunately, she was unable to and to her luck, her hero came in form of the CAUSE OF HER FUCKING FALL as the other swooped down and caught our heroine bridal style. Shirayuki breathed in heavily before turning to glare at the person who caught her. 

"You  _asshole,"_  Shirayuki snarled, twisting her body around to look at the other properly. The other was a boy, around the same age or maybe a year older. He had bright blonde hair that reminded her of Ino, pale blue eyes and an amused smirk on his face. 

_A Yamanaka._

"Oh, I didn't think I'd be saving the Nara-hime," He teased, still holding her. Well, fuck him. Shirayuki twisted her body before dislodging herself from his arms, once her feet were on the ground, she flipped him off, "Don't call me that."

"What a crass hime," The unidentified Yamanaka sighed wistfully then he leaned forward. Shirayuki took a significant step back with a disgusted look, "What the fuck."

"You're just my type!" He declared. Shirayuki immediately responded with an answer unique to her own, "You're either fucking mental, fucking psychotic or both. Kindly fuck off."

"And she curses so much," The boy hummed to himself before dipping into a bow, "My name is Reo Yamanaka. Might I have the name of the lady I just saved."

"If I give you my name will you fuck off?" Shirayuki frowned. Once the boy pulled himself into a thinking post, she knew it was a lost cause. Because it was the exact same stance Ino had when she was about to give a sarcastic reply. 

"Nope," He chirped. Shirayuki sighed, "My name is Shirayuki Nara."

"What a beautiful name," Reo smirked. Now, Shirayuki was very sure that this motherfucker was making fun of her. This son of a bitch was going down. 

"Of course it's a beautiful name, imagine if my name was something like Reo?" Shirayuki snarked, crossing her arms. Reo blinked at her in disbelief for a moment before breaking down into laughter, "Oh my god, you might actually be my type."

"How unfortunate, you might actually be the exact opposite of  _my_ type," Shirayuki retorted dryly. Reo held a hand up to his chest, which was the wrong fucking side, and made a sniffling sound. "How hurtful, hime-chan."

"Really?" Shirayuki made a concerned face, pushing her face closer to his. Her hands reached out to cup his face, noting how his expression morphed into one of surprise. With a smirk, she pinched his cheeks hard and mocked, "Boo-fucking-hoo."

"Ow!" Reo immediately cradled his cheeks and soothed it. Shirayuki stood back, watching his pain in sick amusement. 

"You're smiling," Reo pointed out accusingly. Shirayuki raised a brow, "Yes. Want to make me laugh, instead? All you need to do is go on your knees and commit seppuku."

"Oh wow, hime-chan," Reo frowned lightly, not learning his lesson when it came down to calling her something other than 'hime-chan'. Shirayuki held her leg up and aimed at his crotch, which Reo narrowly managed to escape from. 

"... That was close," he breathed out in disbelief. Shirayuki snorted before giving the other a sweet smile, "Really? Then kindly fuck off, asshole-kun."

That marked the day the charming Yamanaka Prince met the Salty Nara Princess. 

* * *

"And then he fucking smirked!" Shirayuki ranted to her cousin, "I'm going to chop his fucking dick off, blend it and feed it to him the next time I see him! Or even better, I'll fucking burn him to ash and feed it to the strays! That fucking asshole!"

Neji winced at the description and language of what his friend was sprouting. He nodded along, silently pitying the poor boy while remaining silent. Shirayuki then turned to her best friend, "So, how's your life so far?"

"Well, Lee is being as annoying as usual," Neji related, mentioning his teammate. He told her about a mission they had which involved their team getting kicked out of an inn because they thought Lee was an eccentric kid with his father. 

"Well, they do look weird," Shirayuki nodded, "So I wouldn't be surprised."

"I see," Neji agreed. He then glanced at her from the corner of his eye before cocking his head, "Will your team be participating in the Chunin Exam?"

"Oh yeah," Shirayuki perked up, beaming at her friend, "We will! I told them about you and Naruto was very interested in fighting you."

"The dead last?" Neji made a face, from Shirayuki's stories, the other wasn't such a bright person. Shirayuki nodded, "Yeah. He's all strong and I'm pretty sure he's on par with Lee when it comes down to stamina."

"He's that good?" Neji blinked in surprise. Shirayuki nodded, "Oh yeah, Naruto is our team's tank. He has the best chakra reserves and stamina, our little monster."

Neji said nothing, but Shirayuki could tell that she got the other boy interested in fighting Naruto now. Mentally, she gave herself a pat on the back because if there was anything more difficult than convincing Neji to fight a dead last that wasn't on his team, she'd eat Naruto's ramen.

* * *

"Sasuke, pep talk. Go," Shirayuki demanded, pointing at him. Sasuke groaned in annoyance before fidgeting awkwardly, "Naruto should do it."

"Hell no, teme," Naruto rejected, snickering the whole way. "I already did it the time before."

"Shirayuki hasn't done it," Sasuke pointed out. Shirayuki paled, she was not looking forward to doing it either. Oh please, Naruto, please be on her side for fucks sakes. Naruto got serious, he thought hard, enough to make his face flush red. Then he looked at her, "Even teme gave a pep talk once, it's your turn."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Shirayuki cursed, wishing to slam her head on something. Hard enough to knock herself up to spare from making a pep talk. Sasuke smirked, "Oh, come on, Yuki-chan. There's nothing wrong with giving a pep talk."

"Don't mock me, L'anitra deretano," Shirayuki snapped. 

"What does that  _even fucking mean?"_

Naruto snickered, "Go on, Yuki-chan. Time's ticking."

"Mio Dio, I'm a really bad influence to you people," Shirayuki scratched her head, "This is so troublesome..."

"Go on, Yuki-chan."

Shirayuki grimaced, "The exam is separated into three categories: Information retrieval, Stealth and Ambush, and Combat. The first section is most likely a written test, or how well you will be able to get the answers. Second is retrieval and protection of something. Finally, it's obvious. Combat. One vs One."

"Again, how the fuck do you know all this?" Sasuke heaved a sigh. 

"Shut up. Anyways, Sasuke can manage the first one easy, pretty sure I can get through it well... I see, if you fail the first test, Naruto, I'm going to talk my uncle into talking the Hokage into banning Ramen for life."

Naruto looked horrified, "You can't do that!"

"Watch me," Shirayuki smirked. She breathed, "Final advice, people like to invade villages during open exams. So there may be Shinobi who aren't genin, spies and all that. Keep in mind for people with excessive information, high chakra, bloodlust, redundant record and all that are potential threats that enter with motives other than becoming a genin."

It was the most she could do without telling them that she read the whole series in her past life. Shirayuki would be damned if she allowed any of the shit in canon to happen again. Then she turned to Sasuke, "I heard that there's someone out there who's hunting for the Sharingan. Be careful."

"Got it," Sasuke nodded. Shirayuki turned to Naruto, "And with hunters for Sharingan, I have no doubt there are crazy bastards out there that would hunt for Tailed Beasts. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're in a bigger trouble than Sasuke because Bijuu can be transferred and harvested in worst ways than Sharingan can. Or at least that's what hypothesis tells me."

"Okay."

"Finally. Don't fuck up and survive," Shirayuki finished. She leaned back, "So, how'd I do?"

"I say 7, you'd manage to scare the fuck out of younger people with your crazy knowledge," Sasuke complimented. "Naruto did a way better job."

"I'd give an eight," Naruto said, "Because the information she gave us, no matter how surreal it is for her to know, is much more useful than my words of motivation."

"Says the man who got tens," Shirayuki grumbled. Naruto snickered, "Its alright, Yuki-chan. At least you didn't get a three like  _someone_  
_did."_

"To hell with the both of you," Sasuke hissed like a wet cat. 

* * *

"That's the wrong room," Naruto face faulted, staring at the crowded room with disappointment written in his eyes. Shirayuki snorted, "If even Naruto can detect that, that means those people suck."

"Hn." "Yeah– HEY!"

"Well, let's go up. We've got one more slide of stairs to go to," Sasuke commanded. Shirayuki stuffed her hands in her pockets, barely managing to restrain a yawn as they stalked up the stairs. As soon as they entered the correct room, Team 7 felt a shiver down their spine when two honeyed and shrill voices resounded.

"Sasuke-kun~"

Two girls, one blonde and the other a pink head, dashed forward with all intention of tackling Sasuke. Shirayuki watched the scene in horror, aware of how Sasuke seemed to shift back slightly behind the two of them in a desperate manner. As soon as the girls who call themselves Kunoichi came within the vicinity, two legs shot out to kick the girls away by their feet. With Shirayuki and Naruto flanking Sasuke, right and left respectively. They both took one look at Sasuke's relief face before snorting in amusement. 

"Listen, bimbos," Shirayuki grinned slyly, hooking her arms around Sasuke's neck, "Sasuke ain't yours. He's ours."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke questioned dryly, swatting her head off his shoulder. Shirayuki made a mock hurt look before turning to Naruto with a sniffling noise. "Naru-Naru! He's denying our passionate love, claiming that he wishes to be with the bimbos!"

"There, there, Yuki-chan," Naruto patted Shirayuki on the back, giving a mock glare towards Sasuke, "Don't worry about the teme. He's a tsundere, remember?"

Shirayuki snickered before adding, "Believe it."

"Shut up," Sasuke scowled.

"Awh, you know you love us, Sasuke," Shirayuki smirked, "How could you now after our hot and passionate lovemaking!"

"What?!" Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka, Kunoichi, Genin, Fangirl extraordinaire, both shrieked in the same disbelieving voice. 

"What?" Shirayuki retorted innocently. 

 _"What."_  Shikamaru hissed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
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> 
> "Holy shitting motherfucking who pissed in Jesus fucking Christ's non-existent fucking vagina!" Shirayuki cursed as she dodged multiple Kunai that were aimed her way. She ducked before snarling at the enemy, "YOU MOTHERFUCKER! Face me like a man, you pussy son of a bitch! Bring it, cocksucker! I bet the only time you attack a girl when she's low is because of your fucking inferiority complex! This is probably the only time you'd ever get a woman this low because EVEN A FUCKING COW WOULDN'T WANT TO LAY WITH YOUR TINY ASS SHITTY DICK! SO COME! LET ME AT YOU! I WILL HAVE YOU FUCKING SKINNED ALIVE, BLEND IN THE BLENDER YOUR MOTHER USED TO MAKE YOUR FUCKING PORRIDGE, BURN YOUR FUCKING MUNCHED MEAT AND FEED IT TO YOUR VILLAGE'S LEADER! YOU HEAR ME, ASSFUCKINGHOLE?!"
> 
> "Holy shit," Naruto breathed as he watched his lone female teammate rage like never has he seen before. Sasuke cringed as each word sunk in, yeah, women were scary.


	13. Exams

Kakashi Hatake was a hailed prodigy, war veteran and one of the youngest among the seasoned ANBU members. He was infamous, dutiful and analytical to the point of being paranoid. Kakashi felt somewhat tedious to walk towards the academy, several hours late to greet the Genin Team that he would no doubt be failing as soon as they did the test. To say that he was surprised would have been an understatement.

His whole team fell into unofficial positions as quickly as drinking water. In the beginning, Kakashi was only slightly impressed by them. He was mostly making bets internally on who would start the fight first each day, or how long each argument would last. But, he was genuinely surprised.

Naruto Uzumaki was the Pawn in the game, always unpredictable and always moving. But, at any time he could just up and change into the knight. Which becomes the _most_ unpredictable piece of the game, striking at the most unexpected moment. Kakashi could see Naruto as a very good soldier and somehow, he didn't know whether it was a good thing or not.

Then, it was Sasuke Uchiha. The queen of the game, technically the most useful piece, always moving around with no one to block him. He could be used in any way possible and can easily become the most useless piece if used wrongly. Kakashi had pictured Sasuke as the king in the beginning, the one to bark orders and make plans.

But then Shirayuki Nara existed. She wasn't a king, no. She was the Empress, the mind behind every move. The most important piece on the board because without her, all things might have fallen apart. She was the board that supported them, the king that allowed them to move, the player in charge of their movements and the plot maker.

Yeah, Kakashi could admit that his team was likely the one with the highest chance of being promoted to Chunin.

"Good luck." 

* * *

"What do you mean by lovemaking?" Shikamaru spat out, staring at his cousin as if she was the cause of all his problems. Shirayuki sent him a look that asked him whether he was serious before sighing, "Do you think my standards are this low, Maru? Please, if I were to ever sleep with someone, I'd rather go with Neji than them. Because at least then I'd be sleeping with my best friend."

"Wait, then what are we? Chopped liver?" Sasuke scowled at her, crossing his arms. His scowl deepened when she gave him one long considering look before promptly declaring, "My boy toys."

"Bitch," Sasuke spat. Naruto scowled, "Smartass."

"Smartass isn't really an insult to people like her, Naruto," Sasuke told him sarcastically, pointing accusingly at the annoying girl as he gave Naruto a look, "You have to say: dumb motherfucker."

"Oh, ouch," Shirayuki made a face as she held her hand up to her heart, "That might have actually hurt, duck ass."

_"Neji?"_

"Don't call Sasuke-kun that!" Sakura screeched. Shirayuki blanked and stared. She grimaced as she realised that because she was on Team 7, Sakura wouldn't grow the same way she did in canon. But well, Shirayuki never did say she was beneath making the most out of situations. Smirking, she gave Sakura a considering look, "What do I get in return if I stop calling him that? Are you selling yourself to me in order for me to stop?"

"Shirayuki," Sasuke sighed, obviously done with her antics, "Must you?" 

"Give it up, teme," Naruto snickered, gesturing over to Shirayuki, "Yuki-chan would never learn."

"Oy! Naruto! There you are!" Kiba called out, walking closer towards them. Naruto beamed before waving, "Look! Now the loser trio are all back together!"

"Aren't you one of those losers too?" Sasuke snarked. 

"What do you mean selling myself?!" Sakura demanded, stomping closer towards an unimpressed Shirayuki. Said girl raised a hand and yawn before giving a reply worthy of herself, "Selling yourself involves the offering of one's body to another possession in order to pay for something. So, selling yourself? Pretty sure I can fetch a good price for you, I mean... are your pubes pink too?"

"You have become uncouth, Sasuke. Why? Because the chances are that Shirayuki Nara has influenced you."

"N-n-naruto-kun..."

"Oh, Hinata! Nice to see you!"

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO SASUKE!"

"Jesus fucking Christ, woman, ever heard of inside voice?"

"It's Ino, what makes you think she has?"

"Good point, Maru."

"I bet I can beat you now, Uchiha!"

"Bring it, mutt."

"Hey, you shouldn't be so loud, you know?" 

A soft and seemingly meek voice interpreted their chaotic reunion. He had silvery white hair, glasses and a Konoha hitai-ate on his head. He gave a brittle smile and gestured towards their background, "You're mere rookies, don't get so cocky. The exams are difficult, but I'm willing to share some information if you wish to know."

Immediately, Team 7 went on high alert, each snapping into their positions. They straightness themselves, aligning one to another before examining the person in front of them. Naruto made a gesture with his fingers before Shirayuki and Sasuke nodded in understanding. Most of the other rookies didn't seem to notice their sudden change in attitude aside from a few observant ones. Then Ino asked, eyebrows raised and mouth curled up into a sneer, "Who are you?"

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi," Kabuto introduced himself. He pulled out a few blank cards, "These are my flashcards, I have a lot of information collected. Anyone in particular that you wish to know?"

"Shirayuki Nara," Shirayuki said without hesitation. Sasuke glanced at her in surprise but understood to a certain degree what she was trying to do. Kabuto looked genuinely surprised before cocking his head, "Yourself?"

"We need to see how accurate that information you're so proud of actually is, don't we?" Shirayuki gave a rhetorical question. Naruto peered over her shoulder as the other pulled a card out of the stack. Kabuto looked over the information with feigned surprised, "Shirayuki Nara, Genin. Went on 158 D-ranked missions, 2 C-ranked missions and 1 A-ranked mission. IQ is shown to be at 221, slightly below her cousin. Teammates are Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Jounin Leader Kakashi Hatake. Kill count speculated to be more than one hundred."

 _Because this didn't point enough arrows to show that he was a fucking spy,_ Shirayuki thought snidely as she gave the man one look over. Naruto stiffened behind her. Sasuke shifted slightly before inclining his head at Shirayuki. She blinked as a response before he requested, "Kabuto Yakushi."

This time, Kabuto was shown to be stunned. He fumbled with his cards a little, an intentional attempt to make it seem as if it was unexpected. Shirayuki was willing to bet her memories as Anastasia that the person probably calculated their moves to a certain degree. However, before pulling out another card, "This is the first time checking my own information. Kabuto Yakushi, Genin. Failed the Chunin Exams seven times. 250 D-ranked missions, 100 C-ranked mission and 3 B-ranked mission."

"Wait, hold on," Ino interrupted before rounding up on team seven once the information about Shirayuki had sunk in, "You went on an A-ranked mission?"

Then she turned to Kabuto, "And you failed this exam seven times. It must be really difficult."

"Or he just sucks like shit," Shirayuki commented wryly, staring at Kabuto hard. Kabuto held his hands up in a surrendering manner, "Now, now, I might actually pass this time, though! Because teams like Sound aren't that strong so it's easier for me."

"Careful," Shirayuki stated ominously. Kabuto sent her a look before he was forced to block an incoming assault. He had barely managed to dodge the strike but unfortunately, his efforts were in vain as Kabuto soon kneeled over and vomited the contents of his stomach out. Shirayuki watched him impassively as he focused on excreting the contents of his guts through orally. Sasuke shifted closer to her, "Is it the sound wave?"

"Yes," Shirayuki replied promptly, she pointed at the sound ninja, "They're from a new village, Sound."

"Sounds stupid," Sasuke said. He paused a moment before snorting in amusement. Shirayuki gave him a look before giggling, "Did you just make a pun? I swear to god, did you- oh my god, Naru-Naru! Uke-chan made a pun!"

Naruto stared blankly at Sasuke before scrunching his nose up. He strode forward, pressing a hand to his head, "You're not having a fever... don't tell me... Shirayuki's insanity is contagious?"

"Objection!" Shirayuki squawked in indignation.

"Overruled," Sasuke cut in dryly before turning to look at Naruto seriously, "I think we may need to look into that."

"Oh look, they're done comparing ego sizes," Shirayuki commented, pointing at the smug looking ninjas, directing their conversation away. Naruto squinted his eyes, "Why didn't you join them, teme? You would've won that competition right off the bat!"

"Want me to kill you, Naruto?" Sasuke snapped, "I swear to god, both of you are insufferable."

"You speak as if you're not equally annoying," Naruto said sardonically.

"Now, now, don't flirt outside of the bedroom, boys," Shirayuki cut in smoothly, a smirk adorning her face, "These motherfuckers won't be able to stand your sexual tensions."

"You guys are _crazy_ ," Kiba commented in disbelief. Team 7 sent him equally amused looked and replied simultaneously, "You say that as if it's a bad thing."

"What did I say? _Crazy."_

* * *

"Listen up, maggots! You're at the bottom of the bottom, the dirt beneath my feet! You're here to take the test so either you pass or fuck off!" Ibiki Morino declared cynically, sneering down at all the examinees. "My name is Ibiki Morino and I'll be your first examiner for today."

"Oooh, I like him," Shirayuki grinned. Sasuke made an exasperated face, "Of course, you do."

"It's because he curses, isn't it?" Naruto pointed out. Shirayuki curved her lips up, "That's the icing on the cake. It's mainly because he's the head of the Torture and Interrogation department."

Sasuke took a large step away from her. 

"Yuki-chan, you know you said that I have to pass the first test right?" Naruto asked, turning behind as he stood in line to take the seating placement paper. Shirayuki gave him a curious nod, "Yeah?"

"I have a plan," Naruto grinned sinisterly. Sasuke raised a brow at the expression, "What is it now?"

"So hear me out..." 

* * *

"You are given a chance to take the test. Your marks are based on team effort, making too many mistakes will lose you marks. That will cause you to fail. If one person blanks the entire paper, the whole team fails. If you are caught cheating five times, you will be immediately escorted out of the room," Ibiki explained. He looked over each and every candidate, reviewing the information he had in his head about them. 

Few of then stood out, of course. But some held hidden potential. Ibiki smirked, "Begin."

Ibiki crossed his arms as he watched them, he could see a few people cheating but it was up to the other invigilators to capture those cheaters. He watched as the Nara girl write down furiously as if she knew the answer to each and every question. Ibiki wouldn't doubt that she did know, Shikaku had been the exact same while Miketsuni was right behind him. 

"Candidate 121! You've been caught. Bring your teammates and leave."

Ah, it starts. Ibiki watched as the other candidates started to panic. Their fidgety movement became easier for them to get caught as their cheating methods gradually become sloppier because sloppier. Sighing in disappointment, he watched as one team followed by another left. 

"Yuki-chan!"

Ibiki jolted, he stared at the blonde ninja who went by the name Naruto Uzumaki (dressed in orange? For fuck's sakes) as he grinned slyly, "TELL ME ALL THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS."

"Yes, sir," Shirayuki Nara drawled, smirking as she narrated the questions. 

"Stupid dobe, you didn't haven't to shout. We can hear you perfectly fine," Sasuke Uchiha mocked, "We know that your brain can't comprehend inside voice but in a room?"

"Shut up! –" The velocity the kunai would take to reach the target is"– teme! Don't think you're so good, I know you're listening to her answers too!"

"Naruto Uzumaki, Shirayuki Nara, Sasuke Uchiha," Ibiki called out, resisting the urge to grin when he got an idea of what their plan has been, "What are you doing?"

Team 7 all sent him flat looks as if questioning his intelligence. The next words that left their mouth (eerily, it was at the same time), sent chills down his spine. 

_"Cheating."_

"The objective of cheating is to not get caught," Ibiki stated. Naruto snorted, "Yeah well, we have five chances. So I'm guessing we all got caught cheating once."

Ibiki didn't resist the grin this time, he had laughed out loud in fact. Maybe Kakashi had been right, after all, his team was the most advanced among the rookies. 

* * *

"Now, for those who managed to make it all the way here, I am about to announce the final question," Ibiki notified the wide-eyed genin. He smirked at that, screw what Anko said, Ibiki was very sure that he still has it and he was right. 

"Before I begin," Ibiki drawled, stance taking a more unimpressed one, "I must commend you for making this far. The final question is a special one. If you choose to answer this question and get it wrong, let us see... Oh, you'd never be able to take another chunin exam ever again."

Silence, then chaos ensued. 

"What! You can't do that!"

"That's right!" 

"Those before us had the chance of taking the exam again!"

"Oh? I guess good for them and bad for you," Ibiki said sardonically, his expression mocking. This made quite a few of the examinees bristle in offence or tremble in fear. Hah. Ibiki then smirked, "Well, there's always a choice of quitting the exam and taking it next year. I won't begrudge you of doing so."

Nobody spoke, not even our heroine who was known to have one of those speak without caring kind of attitude. However, her face was of pure glee, whether it was at the fact that none of her teammates quit or because other examinees began to raise their hands— that, was still unknown. 

 _"I think... Bear might have a potential sparrow or I might gain a new interrogator."_ Ibiki thought, eyes shining in hidden amusement. His eyes looked over at her two other teammates and hummed,  _"The Uchiha would make a good interrogator and Uzumaki... That one would be a powerhouse, no doubt and if his pranks were any indictment, the stealth team would have a field day."_

"Alright, now that we've established that those wimps left. Congratulations! You passed the first part of the exam!" Ibiki announced gleefully, filing thoughts on a particular team away. Oh, he loved being an examiner. Maybe he should volunteer for the next one too— that is until Anko barged in. 

"SUP MOTHERFUCKERS! ANKO MITARASHI AT YOUR SERVICE!"

* * *

When Shirayuki decided that yes, she was going to take the fucking exam; She had two thoughts: How much had she changed it? Would she survive? The second one was more the self-preservation part of her speaking while the first was the logical one. Shirayuki had been conflicted, her foreknowledge was half useful and half useless. While it helped her a lot, coming this far but mostly it centred around the _original_ characters, not her. Shirayuki hated being a 'replacement' or something 'common', she didn't want to sound vain or conceited but Shirayuki didn't fancy being anyone's second. Period.

When Naruto got a plan, Shirayuki told him a little bit about the exam. Well, she could not just _outright tell him_ the whole process of the exam. She could hide tiny unintentional slip ups but something like that was big enough to warrant attention and Shirayuki didn't think she could cover her ass then.

"The heck are you scheming about now?" Came the charming question from the Lord of Depression himself. Make way for Sasuke Uchiha! Shirayuki rolled her eyes before looking over at Sasuke, "I'm thinking that we should cheat for this test."

Smooth, Shirayuki, smooth. Sasuke raised a brow before pulling Naruto, not even bothering to look over, by his jacket collar away from the children who were interviewing him. "Hey! What's the big idea- oh."

"Yeah," Sasuke snorted, "Oh."

"What's up?" Naruto grinned, entwining his hands behind his head casually. Shirayuki gave him an amused look, "I told Sasuke that I think we should cheat on this test."

"I knew it," Naruto stated proudly. Shirayuki cocked her head. Naruto grinned and pointed at himself, "You have been inspired by my genius."

"...I will smite you, shitty kit."

"Don't diss the fox, Bambi!" Naruto snarked. Shirayuki froze and glared, "Shikamaru told you that name didn't he?"

"Eh, haha..."

"That motherfucker is going to die," Shirayuki announced. 

* * *

"I say we make a run for it," Sasuke supplied unhelpfully. Naruto was conflicted, should he glare at Sasuke for the unwanted comment? Or should he glare at Shirayuki for being the cause of it?

("You stole the fucking scroll? You just had to!" "What! It was to be stolen! You can't blame me!" "What are you? A kleptomaniac?" "Don't insult me— Hold on, since when do you use big words like that, Naruto?" "Don't YOU insult me!" "Children, the both of you." "Shut up, duckass bastard." "... You practised that." "Prove it!") 

"I didn't do it!" Shirayuki denied immediately the moment Naruto train his blue eyes on her black ones. Naruto raised a brow in disbelief, as did Sasuke before they both lifted two scrolls; One given by an examiner, the other stolen from one. Shirayuki grinned sheepishly, "At least now we've established the first stage?"

"You  _bitch."_

"That's... Flattering," Shirayuki smirked at a glowing Sasuke. She turned her nose away before all of a sudden she was pushed down by Naruto. She was slightly distracted, enough to be caught off guard, however. Shirayuki winced as a poison-laced kunai lodged itself into the wall. "What the fuck?"

Another bout of kunai came at her, and it took approximately one minute and twenty-three seconds of dodging for Shirayuki to realise that she was the only one out of the three of them who was getting attacked. Her eyes narrowed. 

Then this time, she narrowly dodged the kunai and one of them very nearly managed to come close to— it cut off part of her hair. 

"Holy shitting motherfucking who pissed in Jesus fucking Christ's nonexistent fucking vagina!" Shirayuki cursed as she dodged multiple Kunai that were aimed her way. She ducked before snarling at the enemy. The enemy squeaked, and managed to mutter out a butchered version of 'Jesus Christ', "Who's Jesus Christ?"

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER! Face me like a man, you pussy son of a bitch! Bring it, cocksucker! I bet the only time you attack a girl when she's low is because of your fucking inferiority complex!" Shirayuki ranged, she channelled chakra into her ankle and the weight before kicking a nearby tree. Said tree dislodged itself from the ground and flew towards the intended target.

"This is probably the only time you'd ever get a woman this low because EVEN A FUCKING COW WOULDN'T WANT TO LAY WITH YOUR TINY ASS SHITTY DICK! SO COME! LET ME AT YOU! I WILL HAVE YOU FUCKING SKINNED ALIVE, BLEND IN THE BLENDER YOUR MOTHER USED TO MAKE YOUR FUCKING PORRIDGE, BURN YOUR FUCKING MUNCHED MEAT AND FEED IT TO YOUR VILLAGE'S LEADER! YOU HEAR ME, ASSFUCKINGHOLE?!" Shirayuki raged, breathing harshly when she finally caught onto an enemy. She smirked, feet holding up slightly above his crouch. 

"Holy shit," Naruto breathed as he watched his lone female teammate rage like never has he seen before. Sasuke cringed as each word sunk in, yeah, women were scary.

_... And stepped onto his groin with chakra coating the soles of her feet._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Somewhere out in the Leaves near the clan compounds, a blonde rubbed his head in disbelief, "I can't believe it..."
> 
> \----------------------------
> 
> A/N: Ah man, when I went to like 2200 words, I was like 'Oh, word count target hit. Time to publish the chapter' then I froze. Legit froze because I realised a big mistake. I forgot to add what I typed as a preview in the last chapter into here. So I was like, 'Oh shit', 'I'm going to be mega delayed on updating', 'My readers are going to be so disappointed', 'Oh my god, what if they thought that I was dead?!' and 'Jesus Christ, I'm so late, Shirayuki might jump out of the book just to murder me'. 
> 
> So yeah, I freaked. I tried super fucking hard to see how I was going to add that preview in without making this chapter being extremely long because so far all my chapters had been 2000-3000+ words long, but well... Anyways, this title has sort of a double meaning. One, the story is in the middle of an exam and the next is because I have exams going on at the moment. So after this chapter, I doubt I'd be publishing another chapter anytime soon, for that I must apologize. Dearly. 
> 
> Ah, and here is to address an anonymous commenter. They asked why I'm "upgrading the rest of them when Shirayuki is the main character"? Simple, actually. Team 7 itself is getting trained by the same person, while it's not outright stated— Kakashi knows a lot of things and can be a trainer so why not utilize that? Shirayuki is someone who would do so and if she can get stronger by getting trained then why not the other two? Naruto who was more or less a tactical genius, Sasuke the hard worker who bore more than enough fruit— so everyone gets updated! Oh, and I didn't want Shirayuki to be a Mary Sue. But thanks for your comment :3
> 
> Again, I hope this chapter is good. Here's a little filler as an apology. Enjoy!
> 
> \----------------------------
> 
> Team 7 Dynamics #1: Choosing the frame colour
> 
> "Congratulations! You're a team now," the man who stood behind the camera said dutifully. He laid out a scroll filled with colours and smiles, "What colour would you like to have as your frame?"
> 
> "Orange!" Naruto beamed, pointing at the blinding colour which was located at the far end of the book. Shirayuki made a face before pulling his hand away.
> 
> "Red," she declared, using Naruto's finger to point at the crimson colour. She ignored his indignant squawk before staring at the cameraman blankly. Said person sweated before turning towards the other two members.
> 
> Sasuke scoffed, "There's no way we're having some blinding colour as the frame. Dark blue would be perfect."
> 
> "You're depressing. Don't spread your shitty depression to us through frame colours," Shirayuki snarked.
> 
> "Now, now, I believe grey colour would be wonderful," Kakashi pitched in. Shirayuki gave him a flat look. Sasuke looked at him incredulously. Naruto stared at him with a look that asked if he was stupid, moronic, imbecilic or all three.
> 
> "What?"
> 
> "Boring old man," Shirayuki drawled.
> 
> In the end, they went with dark red. Because one way or another, Shirayuki was good with talking. (No, there wasn't any threatening goddammit! Blackmail on the other hand...)


	14. Gaara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If anyone asked, Shirayuki blamed it on her lack of sleep. She doesn't find trouble, dammit, they usually just come to her because her teammates are trouble magnets! (Oh, yes, Shirayuki. Blame it on your innocent teammates, why don't you.)

"Disgusting. He was sent to target me specifically, simply because I was the woman from a common clan in our team," Shirayuki snarled, kicking the limp body away. His limbs were chopped off and the blood stopped, so when the man wakes up he would be alive but without any ability to move. Or maybe he would get eaten by a wild animal before he regained consciousness; Shirayuki didn't care as long as he was away.

"Wait, then wouldn't he be after Naruto?" Sasuke questioned. Shirayuki paused, then she stared at him in such a way that it's as if he asked why the sky colour was called blue, why Naruto was blonde, why she was a Nara and why he was of the male species. Naruto caught onto the look easily and snickered in amusement when Sasuke caught on. Shirayuki huffed at the indignant look plastered across his face before responding, "The Uzumaki Clan is said to be one of the biggest clan last time before it went extinct. Shodaime's wife was an Uzumaki, and if I remembered, she was the first host of Kyuubi."

Naruto perked up at that, his blue eyes glittered with interest, hunger and a wisp of sadness. Sasuke made a face, "How do you see find out about these things? The Academy doesn't even teach whose spouse is of which Hokage and here you're probably giving more information that I've ever heard in my entire life about the Shodaime's wife."

"I read," Shirayuki replied as if that answered all his questions.

"What should we do next?" Naruto asked, breaking the ice between the two. There was a beat of silence before Shirayuki hummed, "We comb through the trees and get to the tower, quick? We already have the scrolls after all."

"Yes, scrolls that you stole!" Naruto pressed. Sasuke gave him a look, "You're giving her a lecture on stealing?"

"Shut up," Came Naruto's eloquent reply. Shirayuki grinned, "Are your sexual tensions all resolved now?"

Naruto flushed red before grumbling something while Sasuke made a disturbed face. Shirayuki promptly broke into hysterical laughter before she grinned, "Oh well. Come on, I want to be the first to arrive at the tower."

"It's been about thirty minutes since we entered the forest," Sasuke supplied. Shirayuki grimaced, "It took me fifteen minutes to deal with that fucker?"

"More or less," Naruto nodded.

"I say we go north," Sasuke said. Shirayuki paused and gave him a chance to elaborate before her habit got to her and she started to tear into him on how idiotic of an idea that was.

"The wind is blowing from the east, the scent there is very, very strong ("What are you? A dog?" "Shut up, dobe." "Make me, teme!" "Sasuke, the North?") and the air around north is denser. The forest is thicker in terms of air and that shows that not many people went with that path," Sasuke finished, his hands stopping all movement of drawing. Shirayuki blinked down at the rough map Sasuke had drawn upon the ground before her fingers pointed at one of the blind spots. Well, a path in this case.

"Wouldn't North-West be safer then? The path around her is filled with up hills, and it's closer to where we're at. Knowing the senior examinees, they would probably try to conserve their stamina for the final battle," Shirayuki said. Sasuke blinked, "Huh, that's true."

"And that is why Sasuke isn't the team strategist," Naruto cut in slyly. Sasuke instantly got a twitch under his eye before glaring at Naruto, "I don't want to hear that from the dead last."

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Incoming," Shirayuki supplied sharply under her breath, "Seven o clock. To Me."

"Shit," Sasuke cursed before the three of them jumped onto one of the trees. Naruto turned to Shirayuki, "How many?"

"Can't really tell, you know I'm not a sensor but I think," Shirayuki focused hard, "At least two, feel like there's more but I can't confirm."

"That's good enough," Sasuke snapped harshly, the anxiety creeping upon him, before jolting into action. Shirayuki sent him a look before half a dozen senbon made their way into her hands. Shirayuki dipped the tips into a compartment she kept by her hips before smirking, it was time to see if the poison she developed was a success.

"What is that," Sasuke demanded dully, looking down at her dripping senbon. Naruto was keeping watch, one way or another, he managed to pinpoint exactly where the approaching ninjas were coming from. Shirayuki made a face, "Why do you sound like that?"

"Because I'm so used to your antiques, nothing would ever surprise me anymore," Sasuke said. Shirayuki huffed, "It's a poison I recently developed. I found a mamushi slithering around near our deer and skinned it. So I extracted its venom and then mixed it with the venom of a dart frog and added about two grams of chlorine."

"Holy shit," Sasuke mumbled before looking at Naruto, "If they don't die, I'd be looking into whatever the fuck they eat to gain that level of immunity."

"I'm flattered."

Then Naruto made a signal and the two of them were immediately aware of the fact their opponent was within hearing range. Shirayuki made sure her eyes were fixed at where Naruto pointed to and the first glimpse at a foreign hitai-ate, Shirayuki shot the senbon directly at whatever skin area that was showing.

"Shit! What the fuck was that?" one of the guys asked, rubbing his arms. The girl who came right after him grimaced, "I bet you it was mosquitos. There are so many of those in here."

"I thought you said there were easy targets here, Jirou!" The first man who complained snapped. His teammate, Shirayuki noted, looked a lot like a Nara with their grey-ish black hair and hooded eyes. 'Jirou' scowled, "I told you what I saw, you're the idiot who decided to just rush over."

"That means they're still here?" The girl asked. Shirayuki pursed her lips before she threw two of her senbon at the girl, her lips curled into a satisfied smile as the senbon pierced the girl's neck. Unfortunately, the other senbon dropped onto the floor.

"Ami, that's a senbon, isn't it?" Jirou asked, blinking down at the needle. The only unnamed team member opened his mouth to say something before he just dropped, eyes rolled back and mouth gaping open. Dead.

"Shit! You said they were easy!" Ami shouted in terror, staring down at her dead teammate. Jirou's face was one of horror too, he immediately glanced around, "They're still here. Ami, did you get prick-"

What Jirou had wanted to say was cut off when Ami fell back, dead, in a similar fashion to the unnamed team member. Jirou was the only one standing, not hit by any senbon but terrified enough to wet his pants.

"Yuki-chan, what did you do?" Naruto asked tentatively. Shirayuki gave a flat smile, "Poison. They won't feel pain at all because I added those numbing chemical for women giving birth. Do you want to deal with the last member?"

Shirayuki then kept her unused senbon, left one. Her eyes turned towards Sasuke who wore a weird look on his face before Naruto responded, "I'll do it."

"Make it clean," was all Sasuke said. Naruto barely spared any of them a glance before he jumped down. Jirou tensed, staring at the orange-clad blonde with wide, incredulous eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked. Naruto looked up, smiling, "The person you're going to see last."

Then he pounced. Naruto was quick, quicker than ever, as if hit the other unconscious and then slit his wrist. It would look like it was suicide and Shirayuki had to say, the kill was very clean.

"Ready, Naru-Naru?" Shirayuki asked. Naruto paused before nodding, "Come on, let's go."

To be absolutely honest, Shirayuki was downright terrified. If she was following canon, Orochimaru would have shown up by now. However, she cannot follow the canon timeline because things were not as they were in the timeline. Shirayuki's eyes flickered about, eyes moving from left to right while taking in the fast-moving scenery. Then she paused, staring up at the tower.

"We're here," Shirayuki said as if she couldn't believe they actually arrived. Well, to be technical? She did not. Shirayuki was terrified and her mind kept thinking on Orochimaru.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, pushing her face closer to his. Shirayuki blinked up at him before grimacing, "Yeah. Just exam anxiety."

"Let's go," Sasuke beckoned them over with an inclination of his head. Shirayuki smiled at Naruto before the three of them headed into the tower.

* * *

"... You guys took a very short time," Iruka commented in surprise as he bursts out of the scroll. Shirayuki slumped against Naruto immediately and waved, "Yo, sensei."

"Shirayuki, how have you been?" Iruka asked with a smile to which she replied with a shrug, "Eh normal? I don't know, I'm so tired at the moment. These two bastards drained me when they used my answers in the first exam."

"Yuki!" Naruto shouted, "You're not supposed to tell him that!"

"Dobe," Sasuke called, raising a brow, "The point of the test _was_ to cheat."

"Right."

"Well, I see the three of you are getting along quite well," Iruka chuckled before sobering up quickly, "Well, I am supposed to brief you on your exam."

And with that, Iruka went into a speech on their ability and the next task. That got Shirayuki thinking, who would she be facing in the next task? With her here, the whole thing was different because if she was pit against Ino then Sakura would be going against someone else. But if she went against someone else then how was she going to win when she knew almost nothing about that person? Grimacing, Shirayuki prayed to whichever bastard they called deity up for her to have an easy opponent. She was exhausted, drained and she needed sleep.

"Shirayuki!"

"Ah... Iruka-sensei?" Shirayuki snapped out of it before grinning. Iruka sighed in exasperation before beckoning for them to leave through the door. As soon as they reach the assigned room, Shirayuki claimed one of the beds and knocked out.

* * *

 "She's completely out of it," Naruto commented in surprise, his gaze fixed on their sole female teammate. Sasuke looked down, "Hn."

"I think she did something before the exam and didn't get enough sleep," Naruto said, sitting down on one of the beds.

"She keeps spacing out today. That only happens when she's very disturbed by something."

Naruto nodded at that. He rested his chin on his palm before he made a pouting expression. Sasuke watched closely as his blonde teammate stood up and walked towards their friend. Shirayuki had her back pressed against the wall and her hands were inches away from her weapon pouch. The poison container was tightly sealed and hung by her hips. Sighing, Sasuke stood up, "I'm going to take a shower."

"Oh. I'll go in a while," Naruto said, already taking a seat right beside Shirayuki. Sasuke nodded before leaving the room. Naruto watched as his only other male teammate leave the room before turning back to look at Shirayuki. Her face was paler than usual, was she sick? No, Naruto remembered when she was sick and it was nothing like this. There were no dark circles under her eyes so she should- Unless, she had covered it up with makeup. Naruto knew Shirayuki had a set of cosmetic in her room even if she never used it.

He hoped she was okay; Shirayuki Nara had been, after all, his very first friend.

Meanwhile, Sasuke stood under the piping hot showers with his eyes closed. His mind was fixed on the expression Shirayuki had at one point of the exam. He had never seen that look on her face, ever. Sasuke put his female teammate on a somewhat kind of pedestal because sometimes she just reminded him of his brother before the incident way too much. But then, that look on her face reminded him of himself.

Her eyes keep moving around, fingers twitchy and her back was never exposed and always slightly behind them. Every time Sasuke tried to follow her from behind, she ends up moving back to her original place. Sasuke knew that Naruto could not tell but Sasuke prided himself on his observation skills. Sure they were not on the same level as Kakashi but he had the best observation.

_So why did Shirayuki look so scared?_

* * *

When Shirayuki came to, she blinked in surprise because Naruto and Sasuke both push their respective beds and stuck it to hers. She found herself in a seat of bed with the wall behind her, successfully trapping her in. With both beds caging hers, she found that there was no way she could leave without waking the boys up. Wait, hold on. Shirayuki nearly hit herself. She was a Ninja now, she could just walk on the damn wall.

Getting to the bathroom was an easy task, she did everything she needed before leaving. That was when her heart nearly stopped because Gaara stood in front of her and his eyes were fixed on her. Shirayuki refrained from showing any visible fear before making her way past him which obviously failed when she felt sand slithering its way around her ankle. Shirayuki paused, "Let me go."

"Your existence..." Gaara said harshly, "Irritates me."

Oh, this was bad. Really, really bad.

"Mother says it is better for me to end you," Gaara said and soon Shirayuki found that sand surrounded her entire proximity. This was getting really, really bad. She breathes in to calm her nerves, think, think, _think!_ She needed to distract him, or at least give him enough surprise for his attack to falter. Then she can conjure a water attack, drench him and make a break for it. It was a lousy strategy but at the moment, it was the best Shirayuki had to offer.

"Are you that much of a mamma's boy that you listen to everything she says?" Shirayuki snapped. Her eyes took note of how the sand recoiled immediately and she turned to face the boy. His eyes were wide in disbelief before Shirayuki flashed _Dragon, Tiger, Hare:_ "Suiton: Mizurappa!"

The water drenched the other, turning sand into mud and Shirayuki made a break for it. She was not as fast as Lee, that was without a doubt. But she did not want to get killed before she even got to live much in this world. She arrived at her room before slamming the door open and shut. As expected, the two jolted awake and turned to stare at her in alarm.

"I..." Shirayuki heaved a breath, "I think I might have just pissed off the most murderous person in this exam."

"What the fuck, Shirayuki. What the _actual fuck_ did you do?" Sasuke demanded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Shirayuki looked up at the board with a mixture of horror and excitement flashing across her face. Because in bright colours, there was no doubt about who her opponent was going to be. Her eyes flickered over to said person and note that the other was smirking in excitement too. Because on the board was written: Neji Hyuuga vs Shirayuki Nara. 
> 
> -
> 
> Team 7 Dynamics #2: Common Dislike
> 
> Konoha had one of the most, if not the most, advanced hospitals in all the nations. They had Orochimaru who discovered more than what other nations could say and Tsunade who brought medicine into another level entirely. If there was one thing the whole hospital knew about was Team 7's tendency to dislike hospitals.
> 
> It started off with Tsunade's team. Tsunade may be a medic but she was a combat medic. Meaning she absolutely disliked being cooped up in the hospital and forced to endure any medical procedure. Orochimaru hated hospitals so much that his room would utterly be demolished and reconstructed to fit his ground. And finally, Jiraiya. The moment hospitals were mentioned, he would run faster than he did when Tsunade caught him spying on her as she changed.
> 
> Minato's team had been the same. Minato disliked the hospital but out of sheer politeness, he would stay. Just long enough for his wound to get treated before he was out of the door. Not even the threat to serve Tora missions for the next ten years could get him to stay overnight. His two other teammates... well, the medic chose not to divulge the horror.
> 
> The next team became official during the war. With Rin Nohara as their medic, the team had enough medical knowledge to decide that they didn't want to fucking enter the hospital. Obito Uchiha was so adamant on staying away from the hospital, he made sure he ate so healthy to the point of being an almost health freak. Kakashi was the worst among the three, he ran away, disappeared no matter how injured he was. The only time he stayed and get treated was because his teacher caught him.
> 
> To the medics' exasperation, the latest Team 7 was yet the worst among the worst. Shirayuki Nara had an excuse for every single thing, she'd cook up some diagnosis and then make a run for it. At one point, they had to apply chakra suppressant seals on her, with a key tied to the Head Medic! Otherwise, she would have bolted immediately. Naruto Uzumaki was no better, the whole of Konoha continued to be amazed by the fact he managed to escape his room every single fucking time. Dressed in kill me orange. Finally, it was the dark horse: Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke was such an escape artist that no one had ever caught him. The boy made sure he never got hurt, made sure his meal was abnormally balanced, his chakra levels were always levelled and he never had to warrant a visit to the hospital.
> 
> "I don't get it, Izumi!" One of the medics whined, staring at the empty room of one Kakashi Hatake, "What's so bad about the hospital?!"


	15. Introduction to Prelimens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If this was a story from the point of view of Hokage-sama, it might just be 3000+ words filled with facepalms. In various forms. It's not as if Shirayuki actually corrupted the two boys, pfft- Okay, she might have done. Just a little. In her defence, both of them were already corrupted.

"What the hell do you mean that you pissed off the redhead dude we met?" Naruto asked. Then he paused and rounded up on her, "Scratch that. How the hell did you end up pissing him off?!"

"And here I thought Naruto was the one who attracts trouble," Sasuke drawled out sarcastically, "Clearly, I thought wrong."

The statement was followed by two indignant squawks. Shirayuki spluttered before huffing, "That's Pot calling Kettle black right there."

"I don't even want to know what you mean by that," Sasuke frowned. Shirayuki then threw her hands up in frustration, she can never make any reference in this world! Not only did she sound absolutely bonkers, but all of her references also goes to the roof when it came down to these people. She made a joke about the Kardashians once and only got blank looks in return, obviously, she wasn't in her right mind when she made the choice to reference but seriously!

"She makes weird statements like that," Naruto nodded, looking at Shirayuki with something akin to pity in his eyes. Our heroine was this close to kicking him in the groin but refrained from doing so. Wouldn't do if the future Hokage couldn't reproduce now, would it? 

"Look, I don't know what I did. I was on my way back from the toilet and then he was just standing there. Like any other upstanding citizen ( _"You're upstanding? What a joke." "Even I have to agree with the teme. You're the last person to be upstanding, Yuki-chan." "Oh, fuck off.")_ I tried to leave without attracting his attention. But obviously the plan failed and his sand surrounded me. So I made a statement about him being a mamma's boy ( _"Why the fuck you do that for?!" "Shut up, Sasuke. I needed a fucking distraction, okay?" "Couldn't you have just run?" "Which part of his sand surrounded me do you asshats not get?")_ and he staggered back. So I took the chance to drench him in water and ran away. I'm pretty sure I pissed him off, so shut up," Shirayuki finished with a huff, annoyed by their interruption during her recount of the incident. 

"Sounds like you're gonna die early," Sasuke stated blandly. Naruto nodded like one of those cliche wise men, "And it's probably going to be a very horrible death."

"Wow," Shirayuki commented flatly, "I feel the love oozing out of your statements."

"Really? Darn, guess I wasn't subtle enough," Naruto clicked his tongue. Shirayuki paused before scowling, flipping the both of them her iconic middle finger. 

"How long more do we have?" Sasuke asked, staring out at the window. 

"Probably around four days or so. How long did I sleep?" Shirayuki scowled, trying to wreck her mind. She was pretty sure she didn't sleep for long but she can't exactly be sure. Maybe she slept long her than she expected but it's not as if there are clocks and calendars here for her to check. 

"You slept for about three hours or so," Naruto mumbled. 

"Oh, well good enough." 

"Why were you so tired today?" Sasuke asked, cocking his head to the side. Shirayuki frowned, "I think it's because I exhausted myself two nights ago. I was up almost all night trying to perfect a technique and my father was out of the village. My mother said that he was assigned on a semi-long-term mission so..."

"Oh," Sasuke shrugged, "Is there a training ground somewhere in here?"

"I think not because they didn't expect any of us to arrive this early," Shirayuki shook her head. Naruto hummed, "I'm hungry."

"Now that, I'm sure, can be fixed with us heading to the mess hall." 

* * *

"Ah, they're all here," Shirayuki commented, leaning against the doorframe. The entire corridor was drowned in the stench of blood, sweat and other indescribable smell. Her nose was scrunched up when someone walked past her, body reeked of dried blood and sweat. Gosh, the whole place smelled terrible. 

"It's so noisy," Sasuke said from where he stood. Naruto yawned, "Should we go now?" 

"Yeah sure."

It took them a total of twenty minutes in order to arrive at where everyone was gathering about. Shirayuki stomped down the urge to sneer when her position was right beside Kabuto fucking Yakushi. The bastard was unhurt and Shirayuki had a very, very bad feeling about it. 

"Congratulations on passing, everyone! However, due to a large number of passes, we have decided to hold a preliminary round," Hokage-sama said. Then a man stepped in, coughing into his hands repeatedly. 

"I'll take it from here, Hokage-sama," The man said. Shirayuki frowned, what was his name again? The man coughed a few more times before fixing all of them with a steely gaze, "Good evening, my name is Hayate Gekko and I will be your proctor for this evening."

"You will now be pitted against one another in a one-on-one match. The victor is decided when one party is deemed unable to continue or by forfeit. The victor will then advance into the finals which will be held in a month time. The fighting placement will be announced on the board. For this part, you are allowed to forfeit should you feel that you can't continue." Hayate explained, coughing a few times throughout his speech. Shirayuki glanced towards Kabuto and frowned when she realised he made no indication of forfeiting. Oh gosh, just how much did she fuck things up?

"Perfect. Now, the first match has been decided." Hayate gestured towards the board. Shirayuki looked up at the board with a mixture of horror and excitement flashing across her face. Because in bright colours, there was no doubt about who her opponent was going to be.

Her eyes flickered over to said person and note that the other was smirking in excitement too. Because on the board was written: Neji Hyuuga vs Shirayuki Nara. She had mixed feelings on this, on one note, Neji was supposed to go against Hinata. On another, this was the first time she was able to fight against her friend in an official match. Nodding to herself, Shirayuki stepped forward and faced her friend. 

"Hello, Shirayuki," Neji greeted with a smile. Shirayuki stared for a moment before snorting, "Why do I feel like you're enjoying this more than you should be?"

"Probably because I'm going against you," Neji admitted, "I find that it is interesting to see how I fare against you in an official match."

Hayate coughed, "Begin!"

There was a pregnant silence that surrounded them as soon as the match began. Both geniuses stared at each other, none of them making a single move, none of them gave any inclination of starting the first move. Another beat of silence and both of them were moving at a frightening speed when compared to other participants. Neji leapt back a few feet while Shirayuki jumped and landed on the wall with her feet sticking against it. 

"I'm going to beat you, Shirayuki," Neji stated. Shirayuki merely gave him a smile before her entity split into three other. Neji's response was to activate his Byakugan, which admiringly, gave her a large disadvantage. Grimacing, Shirayuki's flashed a series of hand seals before uttering the name of the said technique, "Kirigakure no Jutsu."

The whole area was then filled with smoke. Shirayuki wasn't entirely sure if her friend could see through it but she can't risk it. Within a split second thought, she threw a bunch of shuriken in all direction before leaping onto the ceiling. 

"KICK HIS ASS, SHIRAYUKI!"

Oh, Naruto. Shirayuki snorted before she closed her eyes, the feeling of Neji's chakra was strong enough for her to pinpoint where he was but not enough to know what attack he was coming in with. Unfortunately, Neji dispelled her initial technique. 

"Fuuton: Reppusho!" 

Since when did he have a wind release?! The whole area cleared, leaving Shirayuki wide open in view. Her eyes widened when she realised he had practically teleported and a kunai was lodged three inches away from her face. She stopped the flow of chakra at her feet and allowed her body to fall. Quickly, she twisted out of his range before flashing another series of hand seals. This time, her hands threw a kunai directly at him and have her shadow follow after it immediately. 

"Shit," Neji muttered when he realised he hadn't been fast enough to dodge the capture. Shirayuki breathes in, "Caught you."

"That was much faster than normal, you've definitely been training it," Neji remarked, then sullenly he continued, "You're a horrible opponent for me."

"Expect the least expected, Neji," Shirayuki muttered. She could feel the strain of her technique but she didn't exactly want to forfeit now. Neji smirked, "I can wait until you've been drained of chakra."

"You're a mean, mean person." 

"Come on, forfeit. I can see that this technique strained your reserves," Neji mocked, smirking the entire way. Shirayuki scowled, "I can walk you back and make you hit your head on the wall."

"Would you?"

"Yes," Shirayuki scowled. Her hands reach down and he was forced to mimic her movement and reached down to grab a senbon. Shirayuki grinned as he begins to level his senbon to his nape. Neji, that genius, caught on immediately and grimaced. "You're going to force me into stasis, aren't you?"

"More or less," Shirayuki said, "Say you forfeit?"

"I forfeit," Neji scowled. 

"Shirayuki Nara wins!" 

* * *

"That was amazing! Your shadow thing was so quick and when he was all "phew" and "pow" and you were like "whoosh" and "ching"! That was so cool!" Naruto babbled. Shirayuki stared at him blankly, "I have absolutely no idea what the fuck are you saying."

"Neither do I," Sasuke muttered under his breath. He then turned to Shirayuki, "He's the Neji you're talking about?"

"The very same. We sparred a lot but this time I got lucky because I haven't used the shadow technique on him in a very long time so he got caught off guard. Most of the time, he would win against me," Shirayuki explained. Sasuke nodded and said nothing, clearly he was thinking the same. Shirayuki knew that her win against Neji was pure luck, her reserves had been draining at an uncontrollable state as Neji had stated; While her stamina improved drastically because of Kakashi-sensei's Spartan training, it was nothing compared to Neji's when the other was trained by the taijutsu master of Konoha. 

"But now I'm exhausted, my entire body feels so exhausted," Shirayuki commented. Sasuke made a face, "Your reserves still suck, don't they?"

"Not everyone is a chakra beast like you or a fucking chakra monster like Naruto, you know. I'm a very normal person," Shirayuki did not pout. She most certainly did not. Sasuke smirked, "Hn."

"I can just hear you mocking me in that pretty little head of yours," Shirayuki remarked sullenly. 

"I'm flattered," Sasuke commented flatly. Shirayuki stared, "Oh wow, I actually did corrupt you, didn't I?"

"You totally ruined him, Yuki-chan," Naruto snickered, "If someone told me Sasuke would be joking while we were still in the academy, I'd sent the person to the hospital immediately."

Sasuke scowled. 

The board flashed again with another set of names: Ino Yamanaka vs Sakura Haruno. Shirayuki stared at the board in contempt, "This is going to be THE cat fight, isn't it?"

"Are you fucking serious?" Sasuke stared at the board incredulously. Naruto snickered, "This is your chance to pick the future Mrs Uchiha, teme!"

"I will  _murder_ you, Naruto," Sasuke snarled. Shirayuki snickered, "Now, now, don't murder your future husband."

The scandalized faces of both of them were enough for Shirayuki to die happy. Sasuke scowled, "I know where the both of you live. You better sleep with an eye open."

"Ooooh, scary. I'm trembling in my sandals," Shirayuki snickered. Then their conversation was cut short when the match was announced to have begun. The three of them watched the match with bored eyes, "What the heck are they even doing?"

Surprisingly, it was Naruto who said that. Both the girls were shouting at each other, throwing weak punches. It was disgraceful to even watch and Shirayuki felt somewhat ashamed to be in the same category as them under Kunoichi. 

"This is so demeaning. Not a single technique cast. I'm so ashamed," Shirayuki remarked blankly. Sasuke snorted, "And you're telling me to choose a bride from one of them? I'd rather marry a duck."

Then he paused and glared at Shirayuki "Say nothing."

Shirayuki snickered, "But you're begging for me to make a joke on that!" 

"Shut. Up," Sasuke hissed. Naruto looked bored, "They're going to end up knocking each other out or something."

"Of that, I agree," Shirayuki nodded. 

* * *

"It's your turn, teme!" Naruto announced giddily, "Against me!"

Shirayuki stared in bemusement, well it changed a lot. The board was very clear and who was up next. Shirayuki wondered what this match would be like. A look at the board and she smirked, "Sasuke Uchiha vs Naruto Uzumaki. Congrats, the both of you are going to be against each other."

"I can tell," Sasuke nodded, he then turned to Naruto, "I feel like I want to play a joke on Konoha by fighting this match with Jan Ken Pon."

Naruto paused before laughing, "How about... "

Shirayuki watched as the both of them make their way towards the middle of the field. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other with mock glares. Hayate coughed, "Begin!"

"Best out of three?" Sasuke proposed. Naruto shrugged, "Sure."

The both of them put out their hands, "Jan, Ken, pon!"

Naruto came out with a stone while Sasuke went with paper. Kiba gaped, "WHAT THE FUCK?!". A sentiment shared by a number of people in the crowd.

Sasuke smirked smugly, "Again?" 

"Jan, Ken, pon!" This time, Naruto won with scissors to Sasuke's paper. Naruto snickered at the put out the expression on the face of the Last Uchiha. Sasuke prepared his hand once more, "Jan, Ken, pon!"

"Yes!" Naruto whooped, thrusting his hands into the air. Somewhere in the audience, Shirayuki could make out the sound of palm hitting their face. Sasuke looked completely gloomy at loosing in Jan Ken Pon against Naruto off all people. 

"Two minutes. You can do nothing but dodge for those two minutes," Naruto demanded. Sasuke scowled before biting out his reply. 

"Fine."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Kakashi wanted to stab her, repeatedly, on the chest. He wanted nothing more than to drive a piece of kunai into her heart. What did she know about something that wasn't baseless bragging? Look at that Inuzuka she has, or that sorry excuse of a Hyuuga Heiress and that disgustingly backwards Aburame. Compared to his students; Naruto who adapted the quickest and always flexible, Sasuke who had near perfect chakra control and awakened Sharingan at age of seven, then Shirayuki Nara who deserves a definition of her own.
> 
> -
> 
> So next chapter would likely be the end of the preliminary round but I can't be too sure. I hope this chapter was up to your standards and don't expect a new chapter soon or you'd be disappointed. This chapter came as a surprise because I got time to write right before my exam. Tell me what you think about this chapter :D


	16. Kakashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kakashi was like a proud father; Always standing tall like a pillar, offering support to his students. Of course, he was going to be offended when people degrade his students, no matter how subtle they may think they are.

"Let's see... my name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. My dreams for the future... huh, never really thought about it. As for hobbies, let's see, I have a lot."

Kakashi Hatake loathe teaching more than anything else in the world. He would rather relive the death of his best friend in an eternal time loop than get tasked with training his future comrades and then sent them to their death because _if they end up incompetent, it's all his fault._ Initially. Kakashi wanted to give _zero_ fucks to the so-called Last _loyal_ Uchiha (fuck the council, they need Kakashi in the shinobi forces and Kakashi was going to make them earn his efforts), Sensei's kid (even if he did check in once or twice on the boy), and some lazy student (whatever, doesn't matter if Nara were apparent geniuses).

_(He was exhausted, he wanted to rest-hisfaulthisfaulthisfault-)_

"We learned his name, which is important in the Shinobi World, especially if said person may or may not be found in a Bingo Book-" _A good soldier, knows her information_ , Kakashi thought before internally recoiling in disgust at his own thoughts. He tried not to show any outright cringe and listened to the blunt deduction from the apparent team genius."- keeps his guard up by not revealing his dislikes and likes that may be used against him if revealed."

 _Kakashi thinks that the girl would make the perfect material for interrogation._ He cringed in terror at his own thoughts, he knew exactly what life in ANBU was, he was fucking enlisted into that hellhole when he was around their age.

"-a sign he still dwells in the past and whatever happens in it, or I could be wrong on that matter too so let's move on. As for hobbies it means that he is always busy and uses up all his spare time, or I could be wrong on both accounts and he's just too lazy to tell us." The Nara finishes with the usual flair and arrogance Kakashi had the displeasure of witnessing on almost every single Nara he knew. Shikaku was more subtle but Kakashi knew the other had the same arrogance and confidence. But his thoughts were on the Nara, she was a pretty little thing and smart too. Kakashi's mind went to ANBU again, _a good sparrow if trained._

 _He was disgusting,_ Kakashi spat internally. The Hokage expects him to train these children when all he could think of is how good what positions suit them? Kakashi leaves them, listens to their introduction before leaving. Whether they decided to eat breakfast or not, it was their problem to deal with. Every Shinobi should know the rules to know that one of them specifically stated, _not everything is always as it seems. Information must always come first_.

Kakashi arrives, two hours earlier than any of them. He stood in front of the memorial stone, eyes peering at every name carved into it and wondering once more why wasn't his on it instead. Meanwhile, his mind went to thinking about his new set of going-to-fail students. Sasuke Uchiha, driven by revenge. Kakashi thought the boy was more or less trigger happy, give the kid a drop of power and he would more or less go drunk on it. Naruto Uzumaki, driven through neglect. Kakashi could relate to a certain degree with the blonde, but Naruto was attention deprived. As long someone knew how to manipulate the boy, and Naruto could easily be taken in. Then it was Shirayuki Nara, resolve unknown. Kakashi could understand the notion behind the other being a genius, but she was a Nara and they were all geniuses. _So, it was not something new_.

He hated the genins already.

Kakashi noted that Naruto and Sasuke arrived on time, give or take. The lone Kunoichi was nowhere in sight and Kakashi felt a little amused that at least someone used their brains. It took another hour before the girl arrived, Kakashi noted that she had not only arrived deliberately late, but she also did eat breakfast. Well, since it was intentional, Kakashi didn't think it would be hard to beat the insubordination out of her.

"Your objective is to get the bell, you have until noon," Kakashi announced. The match began and Kakashi was disappointed. Sensei's child proved to be the furthest thing from a genius when his strategy consists of the redundant use of Shadow Clones. Was the boy incapable of anything other than those clones? Even if it was only the three standard academy techniques, Kakashi could take down a low-chunin at Naruto's age. Then again, Kakashi made Chunin at six.

Sasuke Uchiha was as expected. He was so predictable to the point Kakashi wondered how the boy could possibly be a Ninja. The Naruto kid had an element of surprise, sure he was spawning clones like drinking water but Naruto showed creativity in how his clones approached. Maybe there was hope for the kid, after all. The Uchiha, on the other hand, only caught Kakashi off once; The fireball technique was unexpected, but easily countered. As if he was nicknamed _copy ninja_ for nothing, for heaven's sakes.

As expected, Kakashi more or less got the other trapped.

Now, it was for the wildcard: Shirayuki Nara. Kakashi could admit, once again, that the other was a genius. But how far was she willing to go for a genin test? When was she going to snap? How exactly did her mind work? Kakashi waited and truly, the girl snapped. He watched in silent glee as the Kunoichi tore into the two boys, breaking down every possible ego of theirs in order for them to accommodate each other. Kakashi liked that thinking, the Nara could really make far in this life. The outright statement of what exactly the point of this exercise was, well, Kakashi could understand why Miketsuni was so frustrated with the girl.

_She was a genius but she doesn't apply it._

Then that mission happened and Kakashi watched in horror as his lone female student dropped to the ground while being drenched in blood. Oh, Kakashi thought faintly, so that was what he miscalculated. He always wrote off Naruto as the most selfless one, Sasuke as the most resolved filled. But he was wrong. The two boys had more or less nothing left, they could pick their own path. But the Nara was different. In that one single moment, when she threw away her life for another person's; The image Kakashi linked the girl to himself was immediately shattered to pieces and replaced by Obito.

Two people died that day, one of his students was tainted. Kakashi mournes silently for the loss of another innocent hand before gathering himself. He sents a summon back to the Hokage, informs him of what happened. To Kakashi's dismay, no reinforcement was dispatched. In fact, the team was assigned to a side mission. Kakashi felt conflicted, he really shouldn't be debating whether kicking or punching the Hokage was better.

"We have a mission," Kakashi informed, "Hokage orders."

Kakashi watched as the girl straightens, her eyes were wide with horror and confusion. Why? Something was up with her, Shirayuki Nara was not normal. Kakashi was wary, not of but for her. Something big, there was something big she was hiding from everyone. Kakashi knew it, he trusted his gut feeling more than even his own eyesight. And if they're trying to tell him how Shirayuki had something big going on, Kakashi could believe that. He needed to know what was up. 

* * *

It was a month before the Chunin Exams, this made Kakashi feel a sense of nostalgia. He hasn't been to a single Chunin exam since he was fourteen and being a temporary guard for the Hokage. The rookies were all being nominated, one by one. Even Gai entered his team after putting it off for a year.

Kakashi scoffed, these ignorants. What do their students know of the Shinobi life, anyway? Naruto was the village pariah, Sasuke was the survivor of a massacre and Shirayuki was _forced to kill in cold blood_. **_Genins_** his fellow Jounin called students had nothing on his prodigies. His legacies; Naruto the Pawn, Sasuke the Queen and Shirayuki the Player who makes the move for everyone. Kakashi wanted to pulverize everyone and anyone for even thinking their students could amount to his, much less be above his kids.

"I, Kakashi Hatake, nominate Shirayuki Nara, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha for the Chunin Exam. Furthermore, if all of them succeeds to be promoted, I push forth a recommendation for promotion to Jounin for all three students," Kakashi declared, then he basked in the silence that hung in the air.

"W-what?" Iruka choked. Kakashi surveyed the man coolly. Iruka Umino was very smart and was a talented Shinobi, but the man put passion over duty.

"Are you kidding me?" Asuma scowled, "What makes you so confident in those brats?"

"Ridiculous," Kurenai scoffed.

"And what makes _you_ think _your_ students could beat mine?" Kakashi snapped. He glared at everyone, "None of you were on my team, none of you is supervisors. All three of them already have roles they fall into naturally. I have absolute confidence that the entire exam is going to be _annihilated_ by my team."

The nerve. What did their genin know about the real Shinobi life anyways? His kids were like children from a war at this point, none of those rookies had even a slice to what his kids amount to. Those brats that were nominated didn't _deserve_ the rookie titles. They were _absolutely nothing_ when compared to his students. The sheer potential those kids held was breathtaking.

"We'll see," Hokage-sama hummed, "I will take note of the Jounin nomination." 

* * *

"YOSH! It's your student against mine, Kakashi! My Neji would best your student!" Gai announced proudly, grinning like a loon. Then he turned to the silver-haired man expectedly.

"Hm? What was that?" Kakashi drawled, never once taking his eyes off the match. Shirayuki vs Neji, Nara against a Hyuuga. A very odd match, one was more or less long ranged while the other was close ranged. Neji Hyuuga was a hailed Hyuuga genius, Shinobi of his Year and extremely proficient in Taijutsu.

In other words, Shirayuki's worst nightmare.

Not trying to debunk his own genius of a student, Kakashi was truly starting to realise that his team was filled with geniuses; Each with their own field. But he knew as well as the two boys on his genin team that Shirayuki was more brain than she was brawn. She could think fast, almost abnormally so and was a very good judge of situations.

The mission with Gato, dubbed Gato Corps Massacre according to Hokage-sama, was more than enough proof. Shirayuki was supposed to guard the scene and her first thought when coming into contact to the hired criminals weren't _"How to get away"_ but _"How do I eliminate the threats"_ and Kakashi found out her solution was quick kills. Well, as quick and clean one could make it so when they were merely genin.

Of course, Kakashi sent his entire team to the psyche. For heaven's sakes, they weren't in a war. These were genuinely still children, they didn't grow up during a war and was forced into an early graduation like most of Kakashi's generation did. The results came back, Kakashi was befuddled by Shirayuki's results but that's a story for another day.

Back to the point wherein Neji Hyuuga would be a _terrible_ opponent for Shirayuki. That, Kakashi had absolutely no doubt about. Neji was trained by a Taijutsu Master, Genius in Jyuuken Arts and was ruthless in his work. Shirayuki was quick in mind, fastest among his students and the most efficient amongst. Of course, there's still a high a chance that she would lose. Because Kakashi was well aware that among his students, Shirayuki Nara was the one with the most pride. The girl was very prideful, quite egotistical and had a habit of mocking opponents. Gosh, she was the one with the most difficult personality.

"Do you think your student can win against mine?" Gai asked. Kakashi didn't hesitate to answer yes because no matter how genius Neji may be, Shirayuki was on an entire level differently (even with her ridiculous pride— or ego, depending on who you ask). Her thinking was on par with adults, adding on the fact she was a Nara— well, Kakashi thought that it warrants a thinking that his only female student could outsmart that upstart Hyuuga.

(Maybe that was the protective him speaking but Shirayuki could beat some measly Hyuuga. Even if it's by luck.)

"We'll see," Gai said and the both of them silently analyzed the match. It was midway through the battle when both students were on the ground when Kakashi noticed an ANBU member behind him. His sense went overdrive.

"Kakashi-senpai," The man greeted, blue hair falling over his eyes and eyes shining with something. Kakashi wasn't an idiot, he was hailed a genius in his own right, he was enlisted into ANBU once before. It didn't take long for him to piece things together and to say he was furious was an understatement. Months ago, he might have thought of how suitable his team was for ANBU corps. Now? _No_. At the same time, he was resigned because Kakashi can't do anything, can he?

"You're recruiting my student," Kakashi commented blandly.

"Orders."

Yeah, Orders. The biggest can of worms and dung, Kakashi hated that word so damn much that he took every opportunity present to go against it. That word was more or less the bane of his existence. Order, order, fucking assholic order. Orders drove his father to suicide, orders made his next father figure die alone, orders prevented him from raising his sensei's legacy, orders that demanded the Uchiha to fucking pass, it always came down to orders.

"I see," doesn't mean he could say shit to it, now can he? Without being called out for insubordination, Kakashi could do nothing but step aside and let the stupid order to pass; To allow one of his students to enlist into that stupid world.

"Winner! Shirayuki Nara!"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, a mixture of a grimace and pride— really. He watched as his student wavered, seemingly on the verge of collapse before leaning against her teammates for support. Ah, her stamina was really bad. As he had expected, Shirayuki was utterly drained after the final battle.

"She's quick," Asuma commented, standing by his side. Kakashi hummed, neither agreeing to what he said nor denying so.

"I guess it wasn't baseless bragging either, huh, Kakashi," Kurenai commented. Kakashi wanted to stab her, repeatedly, on the chest. He wanted nothing more than to drive a piece of kunai into her heart. What did she know about something that wasn't baseless bragging? Look at that Inuzuka she has, or that sorry excuse of a Hyuuga Heiress and that disgustingly backwards Aburame. Compared to his students; Naruto who adapted the quickest and always flexible, Sasuke who had near perfect chakra control and awakened _Sharingan_ at age of seven, then Shirayuki Nara who deserves a definition of her own.

"Don't be jealous," Kakashi remarked, eyes flickering to her genin in clear scorn and condescension. Kurenai looked dangerous for a moment, eyes flashing in contempt.

"Of who?" Kurenai gritted her teeth, eyes fixed on Naruto. Kakashi very nearly snarled at her, "Are you questioning my teaching, Kurenai?"

Kurenai opened her mouth to blow up a retort only for Asuma to shake his head. "Whatever."

"I told you, I have a lot of faith in my students," Kakashi mocked, stormy eyes fixing her a harsh glare, "And my faith is never misplaced."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "You bastard!" Naruto announced before a familiar hand sign appeared, "Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"
> 
> "I have you know my parents were married when they had me," Sasuke casually announced as if he was providing news to the other party. His eyes did twitch when Naruto split into ten silhouettes, forcing Sasuke to be ambushed by smoke and a furry of orange. 
> 
> "I knew it! Yuki-chan totally corrupted you!" Naruto accused.
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: Anyways, I have three more papers to go before all my exams are over. I thought I should release some stress and this chapter wrote itself. Istg. Kakashi is a bitch and a half to write about, his entire character is so complex that I'm pretty sure I fucked up his entire personality. If you have any comment on how I can improve Kakashi's personality, I'll do it.
> 
> And yes, chess analogy. Shall I explain?
> 
> Naruto is a pawn because he can be anything and everything. A pawn moves one step at a time, slowly but steadily. He does not rush nor does he waste away. Sasuke is a queen. The most useful at the same time the most useless piece. Sasuke is a good person who's ability would rise above and beyond only when it is trained properly. Shirayuki the chess player. Why not give her a chess piece? I'm speaking for her demented superiority complex here. Shirayuki will never, ever refer to herself as the King. And she can never think of herself as anyone else. If Kakashi? I will say he's the knight; the protector to everyone's king. And goddammit, I don't know who is the more difficult character to write. Orochimaru, Kakashi or Itachi. Maybe it was Shikamaru.
> 
> I changed the preview in the last chapter, cause I didn't realise Kakashi Interlude was going to take this long haha. So, how was the chapter?


	17. Enemies? Yeah, no.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heard of the butterfly effect? Shirayuki is just about to find out how different the world she lives in now as compared to the one she thought she knew. Sometimes, the tiniest of thing can end up making the biggest of change; A clap today may end up causing the apocalypse tomorrow.

It was tense, for the audience that is. Sasuke and Naruto were eyeing each other in a way that Shirayuki liked to interpret as sexual tension. Not that any of them would agree with her, even Kakashi-sensei would give her disturbed looks when she mentioned her interpretations. (Okay, yes, she was messing with them). 

"I can't seem to understand why," Sasuke started. His gaze was fixed in the most condescending _("I call it his resting bitch face," Shirayuki told Naruto once.)_ manner possible, eyes filled with satirical amusement and his entire body language declared exactly how luscious he thought of the following statement he was about to make, "Shirayuki seems to think of you like the tactical genius on our team."

"You're just jealous," announced Naruto sulkily, eyes trying to convey exactly how annoyed he was with the dark-haired boy. Sasuke scoffed, fixing him a look that just _defines_ sarcasm, "Sure I am. Totally jealous of the fact you've been dead last even with Shirayuki, the actual genius of the team, tutoring you."

"Hey!"

"Yes, Naruto, be offended," Sasuke said snidely, dodging an incoming kick from the right. Sasuke sent an annoyed look to the glowering blonde before declaring, "Fine, your two minutes starts now."

"You bastard!" Naruto announced as Sasuke dodged yet another barrage of punches. Naruto furrowed his brows before a familiar hand sign appeared, _"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!"_

"I have you know my parents were married when they had me," Sasuke casually announced as if he was providing news to the other party. His eyes did twitch when Naruto split into ten silhouettes, forcing Sasuke to be ambushed by smoke and a furry of orange. 

"I knew it! Yuki-chan totally corrupted you!" Naruto accused.

* * *

"Wow," Shino commented as he stood beside an amused Shirayuki. "You guys have improved drastically. Why? Because Sharingan no Kakashi must have trained the three of you to the bone."

Shirayuki scoffed, "Training doesn't mean shit if we're not willing."

"What the fuck did you guys even _train_? They're quick enough for me to lose sight several times," Kiba gaped. Shirayuki noted that the other had their eyes flickering about the whole arena, following the fight while not following at the same time either. The Nara snorted. Of course, Kiba had a hard time keeping up, Kakashi-sensei had been the motherfucking ANBU when he was _her age_ , and training with that kind of monster every day? Shirayuki still wondered why the fuck her stamina is not improving with their spartan training.

"Join us, then maybe you would find out," Shirayuki remarked casually. Feeling vindictive, she added as an afterthought, "Though, you might not survive after our training."

"What?"

"Don't you know?" Shirayuki gave a cheeky smile, "Kakashi-sensei is a shinobi who is very close to achieving a flee-on-sight order." 

* * *

"What's she blabbering about now?" Sasuke clicked his tongue, dispelling another pair of clones. The dozen of Naruto scattered around him shrugged in eerie sync, "Who knows? Yuki-chan has her reasons."

"She's weird," Sasuke mumbled before grinning, "By the way, your two minutes are up."

"Fuck," Naruto cursed before leaping away. He surveyed the other boy and hummed in satisfaction, "I did a number on you, I'm so proud of myself."

"It's amazing how before we met the witch, you've never even uttered a single curse word," Sasuke commented offhandedly. The match they were having was casual, fighting with skills and dexterity that proves they were more than qualified to be Chunin. Sasuke had remembered what Shirayuki said, or at least sarcastically remarked before the exams and had taken it to heart. 

  _("Please. If I know those wrinkly asses, they probably just expect you to fight and display skills enough to warrant you a position as Chunin. You don't need to fight to death or some shit, it's Konoha," Shirayuki scoffed. The boys were in her room and her hands were occupied with writing the sequels to her Harry Potter._

_"Why is "it's Konoha" somehow emphasized?" Sasuke asked dryly. Naruto beamed, "Its cause Konoha is all about teamwork, isn't it?"_

_"Obviously. That's the trick, just work together and work together skillfully," Shirayuki contorted her face into one of sheer condescension, and said satirically, "Konoha values teamwork, for its the will of fire."_

_"Amazing how you said that," Sasuke raised a brow before saying, "Such an asshole.")_

"Are you calling Yuki-chan a witch?" Naruto questioned. He had plucked a leaf out of Shirayuki's book when an eyebrow raised in an extremely condescending manner. Sasuke scowled. 

"Shirayuki is more like that woman we hear in our legends," Naruto furrowed his brows, "You know that one female daimyo who more or less enslaved the entire kingdom and had everyone at her beck and call?"

"Are you comparing Shirayuki to infamous Blood Daimyo named Akako?" Sasuke paused before snickering. Naruto kinda looked overly smug at that, never mind the fact the only reason he even knew about the daimyo was that of the very person he was comparing them to. Shirayuki deserved it for always torturing him during their, Naruto grimaced at the thought, _tutoring lessons_. What sort of tutors would eat ramen in front of their students even after promising to give them after they finished with the work, what sort of tutors would _insult ramen_ during a _math test_?

"I'm actually kinda tired, should we both just forfeit?" Sasuke asked. Naruto shrugged, "On three?"

"One. Two. Three."

Silence, then Naruto frowned, "Now I'm disappointed in the both of us."

Sasuke snorted. Then, without even counting, the both of them turned to the judge and declared, "I forfeit."

It was dead silence after the declaration before being torn apart by a familiar laughter. There was no mistaking of who the laughter came from, only one person Naruto and Sasuke knew had the natural laughter of a criminal mastermind. Or a witch, depending on your perspective. Shirayuki had a _horrifying_ laughter, it always sounded like one of those villains laughing about just seeing a woman getting gutted or something.

"I- _HIAHAHAKHA-_ Remind me to get you guys presents!" Shirayuki then continued her hysterical laughter. Somewhere in the hall, someone could make out Neji muttering under his breathe about how he had no idea who the insane woman laying on the floor was. Kakashi could even see the fact Shikamaru had a look of utter annoyance and mouthing the words _Disown this person_ to his father.

"Really? I want tomatoes, the ones from Kiri. I heard they were to die for," Sasuke said, walking over with a casual smirk across his face. Naruto perked up before chipping in with a request of his own, "I want the limited edition sushi ramen! Can you believe Suna made _piping, hot ramen_ with _raw fish_?! I _have_ to eat it!"

"But those are expensive!" Shirayuki whined, ignoring the looks everyone directed to a proud Kakashi. And indeed Kakashi looked proud, it was as if he took pride in knowing his students were _absolute_ trolls. Actually, scratched the if; Kakashi probably invented the term trolling in Konoha, he was likely the most troll of a person in the history of Shinobi. Not that he actually minded the fact, this came from a man who brutally massacred ninja by using their own techniques to beat them. _Psychology_ at its finest, darlings.

"How are you even _related_ to that witch?" Kiba questioned Shikamaru. The genius glared at the Inuzuka heir, "Do you want to know how? I'm sure I can show you exactly how we're related by tomorrow."

That made Kiba pale. Okay, even he knew the Nara were geniuses, and Shikamaru was smart so he didn't really want to get on the dude's bad side. Kiba should've known that his casual remark about Shirayuki being a witch would end up with him being on the other side of Shikamaru's ire. God, the Nara were such a scary bunch. Why haven't they taken over the world yet? Oh yeah, laziness. Thank god for small mercies. The author sends their regards to the poor fool who would one day manage to anger the entire clan of geniuses.

"So, they both lost?" Hayate raised a brow. Sasuke shot him an annoyed look, "No, we both won. So it becomes a draw."

"You forfeited."

"Are you _implying_ that I'd lose to someone like this teme?" Naruto demanded, stomping his feet harshly on the ground. Sasuke shot him a glare, "Are you saying I'd lose to someone like you, dobe?"

"Princesses," Shirayuki announced in her best impression of a pompous git, "We both know I'd beat you both, so please just settle on being second best."

"I'll hit you," Sasuke stated dully.

"And I'll let him," Naruto offered in an equally flat tone.

"I know where the both of you live, your sexuality, your list of crushes, what underwear brand you use and the exact recipe you like your favourite food to be in," Shirayuki informed with a thoughtful hum, "Did you know that I recently learned how to make my own poison?"

"Fuck," Sasuke cursed before walking away.

The proctor coughed to gain everyone's attention again. Eyes switched to the board and Shirayuki could only watch in horror at what was written on the board. It was as if the universe was finally saying their final _fuck you, bitch_ to her, because what was written on the board was none other than two of the most horrible names: _Shikamaru Nara vs Subaku no Gaara._

* * *

Shikamaru knew something was up when his cousin turned a pale sheet of absolute horror the moment the next names flashed across the screen. There was no doubt about it, the next person to be tested was him- and the dangerous boy named Gaara. Shikamaru shifted his focus onto the unstable boy and tried to take in whatever he could assess. From the looks of it, he was a psychopath. No attachment, no understanding of right and wrong, no affections towards any form of human being, delusional enough to think murder is the path to prove his own existence. In conclusion, the boy was a walking explosion.

Shikamaru knew a lost cause when he saw one, the boy was obviously out for blood. Likely, if he didn't forfeit he would be dead within seconds. While he didn't know how the other fought, Shikamaru would rather not go against a walking explosion. The boy reeked on insanity, obviously, he was out of his depth.

However, at the same time, his mother would nag the shit out of him if he just forfeited without trying. _That would be highly irritating_. And his father was watching, so Shikamaru still wanted his pride intact thank you very much. And now he just placed himself in a stupid dilemma. Then, Shikamaru saw his cousin making her way over to him with a dark look across her face.

"You know something about him," Shikamaru stated dully. He watched as his cousin winced in a somewhat hurting manner before nodding, "He's... he has the ability to manipulate sand like how we do with our shadows. I want to have faith that you'll win but I really don't want to risk it and have you dead."

"I realised," Shikamaru started, "That Gaara is likely a walking explosion. He's mentally unhinged and has no morals whatsoever."

"I know. Please, the moment you're sure you can't win... I want you to forfeit," she pleaded. Shikamaru agreed internally, he would have done that regardless of what she would have said. Shikamaru reached out to tuck her flush closer, hugging her tightly to his frame, "Don't worry, I'll survive."

"Make it back, intact both physically and mentally," Shirayuk said, "I would say illusions have the best chance but I'm not sure if he's even acceptable to that field. Try to soak the sand or something, then capture the shadow. I don't know, I can't think properly-"

"Shirayuki, it's alright," Shikamaru said sternly, "I'll make sure I make it back."

She breathed harshly, "Okay. Good luck."

 _Shikamaru Nara vs Subaku no Gaara_. Somehow, the world seemed to be taunting him. Shikamaru scowled, that felt horrible. If there was one thing most Nara had in common other than their intelligence and laziness, it was their pride. Did you know? There was a saying once that a Nara only gives up when they're dead because that's when their mind stops working. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter
> 
> Shirayuki felt her heart stop, on the board were words that seemed to be taunting her as much as it had with the last match. Watching the last match was already nerve-wracking, and this one didn't seem to be any better. How much of this timeline exactly had she screwed up? Why was this happening to her? This had to be her fault, this was no doubt all her doing. None of this happened in canon and she was the reason why all this was happening, wasn't it? Shirayuki stared at the words, willing for them to go away but knew her efforts were in vain. There displayed across the board were two names Shirayuki would have never thought to see together: Hinata Hyuuga vs Kabuto Yakushi.
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: Hello. No, I'm not dead, surprisingly. I graduated high school :D and I got a job. Because the job can get demanding (until my contract is up), I will be a little busy. Unfortunately, that means not much writing :( I've added a few more books under the Anastasia series along with making a tumblr just for the series. Feel free to ask anything on the tumblr about the series/books, link down below. I hope this chapter wasn't too hasty, I tried to make sure the pacing was better? I wanted to squeeze all the fight in this chapter then leave a bomb at the end but well, it didn't work out. So, again! I've split the chapter. I actually have an interlude written which I can actually publish until I get the Chunin Exam down. Damn, the stupid exam is such a bitch to write about. Anyways, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll do my best writing the next update soon.
> 
> Question: Murder, Slavery, Marriage? Shirayuki, Orochimaru, Kushina
> 
> xD You don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's for fun.
> 
> Tumblr Link: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/thereincarnationofanastasia


	18. No Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Was Shirayuki truly as alone as she thought? Something wasn't right, she didn't have to be a genius to realise that something in this universe was truly messing with her.

Make no mistakes, Shikamaru Nara was terrified out of his wits at the moment. He didn't particularly know why his mind was multiplying strategies for him ten thousand a minute this very moment, where as his instincts were literally yelling themselves hoarse for him to _get the fuck out of here_. But he couldn't, not really. Shikamaru Nara loved his cousin liked a sister, if this person scared her to the extent the shadow of the massacre washed over her expression- well, Shikamaru can't let that continue.

Maybe he was suicidal, maybe all the stupidity around him was finally rubbing off. It wasn't as if he thinks Shirayuki couldn't handle herself, definitely would never think so. Shikamaru knew his cousin was one of the strongest person in this village in terms of mentality, the physical aspect could still be questioned seeing how her stamina was absolute rubbish. However, this wasn't the place nor was it the time to muse about his cousin's statistics. He had an opponent in front of him and Shikamaru could already start to read about ten things every second he stood.

His opponent was unhinged, that was the most obvious fact. High possibility that he has unwilling insomnia, if the circles around his eyes have any indication. Shikamaru was going to go out a mile to say it has something to do with his bloodlust, desperate hunger to prove his own existence, and the reason people from his village seem to hold him at a wide berth. Basic analysis, now for a deeper look into it. Shikamaru pursed his lips, dysfunctional family issues. Likely his father was the main cause of it, neglect? Mother dead, but the son doesn't seem to hold her at a pedestal.

Or does he?

"Hey," Shikamaru called out, capturing every moment the boy turns to look. The sand that hovers around the unhinged bastard was intimidating, Shikamaru would give the guy that much. But it wasn't impossible, high pressure turns sand into glass. Water turns sand into mud. Both are ways to defeat sand, luckily, Shikamaru had a better affinity for water than he did for pressure (which, by the way, doesn't exist as an affinity). The eyes were cold, lost, and ruthless. Reminded Shikamaru of his father when he just came back from an ANBU mission (no, Shikamaru wasn't stupid enough to ignore the signs), but worse off. Much worse.

"Is your mother dead?" Shikamaru asked, pouring salt to an unseen wound. There was nothing but silence, but Shikamaru could swear that he could hear his cousin's thoughts screaming at him at the very moment. He could almost picture her worried face, lined with a shadow and a lot of guilt. Shitty emotions, always toying with his cousin's conscience.

"She's... _**not**_ ," the guy spat out, a wide smile plastered across his face. Yeah, _definitely insane_. Likely, his mother was dead. So in other words, this person does hold his dead mother on a pedestal. Then, Shikamaru realised something absolutely abhorrent. To test out his insane theory (god, why wasn't this person attacking yet? Shikamaru was pushing his luck with this, wasn't he?), Shikamaru opened his mouth to open a large can of worms.

"Sure. Is she inside your head?" You know what he needed now, brain? Math, Shikamaru needed some fucking math and his brain had better not fail him at the moment. Water has the density approximately 62 pounds per cubic foot, sand weighs around 80 to 100 pounds which Shikamaru is going to round it off to 90 to be sure. Since the sand moves quick, from the way it swifts around, Shikamaru might be tempted to give into the fact the sand there weights 100 pounds. His shadow moves 1 kilometers per minute, if he manages to slow down the movement of the sand then his shadow likely would be able to capture the mud.

"How... d _ **o**_ y _ **o**_ u _**k**_ n _ **o**_ w _ **that?**_ " Gaara (that was his name, right? Fuck his brain at the moment.) snarled. Shikamaru smiled, copying the expression he saw on her cousin once before. It was a smile she loved using when talking to someone, in her words, _absolutely foolish and ignorant._

"I use my brain and think," Shikamaru stated blandly. So far, the guy hasn't noticed the senbon sliding softly while guiding his shadow over. Sands are small particles, aren't they?

"Mother _**TELLS ME YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"**_ And fuck, he snapped. Shikamaru _shushin_ away the moment a wave of sand aimed to hit him, mind taking in the rough calculation of speed. Obviously the speed was quicker than his shadow, even an idiot would be able to see that. But this Gaara guy isn't able to see his senbon just yet. The tiny thing was sticking out of his arms and _he hasn't fucking noticed it yet_. And that, my beautiful friends, was when Shikamaru Nara knew just what the biggest ironic weakness this unstable opponent had; _He doesn't register small objects as threats_. Arrogance, Confidence, and Brashness. Why the hell was everyone getting more and more like that these days?

 _Three senbon down, seven left_.

He should really work on getting more senbon, his cousin was right, these little things were handy as hell. Shikamaru threw a kunai at the guy, trying to gouge just how big the weapon had to be in order for whatever the fuck his unhinged opponent was to take as a threat. Unfortunately, Shikamaru didn't really know if the senbon doesn't register as a threat because it doesn't affect him or simply because he can't see them coming. Shirayuki was always better than him at these people stuff.

Then, " _SHIKAMARU! BEHIND YOU!"_

oH, shit! He missed one wave when dodging, well sue him _(What does that even mean? God, Shirayuki had better explain later but at the moment, the phase just sounds so fucking right.)_ but he can't just shut his mind up and work on instinct.

"Time to see which wins," Shikamaru grimaced, that's right. Brains or brawns?

* * *

"He's going get himself killed!" Shirayuki hissed under her breath, eyes never once leaving the battle that was taking place. Sasuke and Naruto knew Shirayuki enough to know how worried she was and how badly her mind must be working at the moment. Everyone seemed to be at the edge of their seats, proven by the fact how no one seems to notice Sasuke willingly holding hands with Shirayuki, or how Naruto seemed to be doing the same thing with the same girl.

Shirayuki definitely wasn't fairing well, her mind might not be able to work the same as her genius of a cousin but she could roughly keep up with his _~~stupid, foolish, imbecilic, and absolutely appalling~~_ line of thinking. He was _still_ testing the waters, trying to see where the pressure point of Gaara was. He had a plan, obviously, something to do with speed. But to what extend?

 _Don't get yourself killed, you moron._ Shirayuki clenched her hands tighter, lower lips bitten to the point blood was starting to slip out. Then, Naruto released her hands to draw her into a hug. There were no words given, no expression but sheer comforting _understanding_. Shirayuki closed her eyes, she slipped her hands out of Sasuke and slapped herself. The impact resounded throughout the hall, would've been heard by everyone if it wasn't for the fact the battle was so noisy. Then, her eyes opened and concentration returned. She can't give herself a panic attack at the moment, her cousin was _essentially_ facing his death bed right this moment. And then, there it was that Shirayuki saw it.

There was a wave of sand heading fast towards Shikamaru, silently. The problem was the fact her cousin couldn't see it, _he couldn't see the fucking thing and he would di-_ " _SHIKAMARU! BEHIND YOU!"_

"You're not supposed to say anything," some kid informed her stiffly, not seeing the glare plastered across Sasuke's face or the look of utter loath that crossed hers. Shirayuki snarled, "Would you rather he fucking died? Do you not see how _absolutely_ dangerous Gaara is? And that stupid cousin of mine is having a plan about speed, likely to slow- Oh my fucking god."

Then was when it clicked, her cousin was going to control the sand. He was going to slow down the sand, enough for him to take control of it with his shadow. _That was suicidal._

* * *

_Ah,_ Shikamaru mused in his mind, _she figured it out_. From the looks of it, Shirayuki was anything but pleased at the moment. If he made it out of this shit alive, he was going to get a ripping of a lifetime. Shirayuki had this ability to make it hurt when she ripped into you, she would make it seem like you're the dumbest person in the universe and then point out solutions that seemed like something so, very easy. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad thing at the moment, well, Shikamaru was at least sure that his cousin would be happy so long he survives.

Well, it wasn't as if he could do anything besides controlling the sand now, was there? It seems that Gaara didn't register senbon as a threat because it didn't work on the guy, seeing how the thing was sticking out of his nape but the boy was still fighting strong. If he died, he was going to haunt this guy... On second thought, Nah. Seems too troublesome to do so, sleeping off his eternity in clouds seems like a much more preferrable course.

He had enough for two attacks, if both don't work then he was going to forfeit. Chunin exams weren't going to let them fight to death, this wasn't Kiri or some other bullshit savage of a village. This was Konohagakure and Shikamaru was almost too sure of the fact he'd be able to please his parents with the fact he held out this long, regardless of whether he won the battle or lose.

 _Snake._ " _Suiton: Bakusui Shōha,"_ Shikamaru winced at the sudden depletion in chakra he felt, also the wave of exhaustion that washed over him. Looks like this technique took out much more from him than he had originally calculated. Fortunately, his initial calculations had been spot on. The sand dropped in speed but Gaara was still controlling the sand. It seems that was his entire supply of sand, meaning it was time to try and control that shit.

 _Rat, "Kagezukami no Jutsu,_ " Please let this work. Shikamaru winced once more when the bout of exhaustion drowned him from where he stood, his entire muscle was aching and it looks like he wouldn't be able to hold for long. Gaara, whatever the fuck he was, was already beginning to fight against the A-ranked technique. Shikamaru can't hold it for long, so it looks like he had to give up this fight after all.

_"I forfeit!"_

* * *

The moment those words left her cousin's mouth, Shirayuki didn't let a moment spare before she sprinted towards her obviously exhausted cousin. Unfortunately, Gaara seemed to be unable to comprehend just what _'I forfeit'_ meant at this moment. She snarled and _shushin_ away with her fallen cousin, there was absolutely _no way_ she would allow the current Gaara anywhere near her cousin. _Not even over her dead body_.

It was only when they successfully restrained Gaara and Shikamaru was surrounded by the rest when Shirayuki finally looked down at him. She winced at the thoughts which assaulted her mind, _herfaultherfaultherfault_ , and patted his cheeks softly a few times. Shikamaru seemed to blink a few times up and gave a small smile.

"I'm going to tell baa-san that you lost," Shirayuki informed snidely, "And _you're_ going to explain exactly what stupid thing you did today."

Shikamaru winced at that, "Can't you pity me for a bit?"

"Let me punch you a few times first then I might think about it," Shirayuki informed. Shikamaru chuckled, "Only think?"

"You deserve that shit."

"Yeah, yeah."

Shirayuki moved aside when the medical team came in, she stepped closer to both her teammates and finally released a sigh of relief. This entire thing had to be her fault, wasn't it? If she didn't exist in this world, none of this bullshit would have happened. The only good thing about this was the fact _Lee_ didn't have his legs broken beyond belief. But... does this mean instead of Lee, _Garaa would visit Shikamaru in the hospital instead?_ She can't let them meet, Shirayuki can't afford to loose a family member. _Never_.

Cutting through her thoughts were the signalling of another match beginning. Looking up, Shirayuki felt her heart stop; On the board were words that seemed to be taunting her as much as it had with the last match. Watching the last match was already nerve-wracking, and this one didn't seem to be any better. How much of this timeline exactly had she screwed up? Why was this happening to her? This had to be her fault, this was no doubt all her doing. None of this happened in canon and she was the reason why all this was happening, wasn't it? Shirayuki stared at the words, willing for them to go away but knew her efforts were in vain. There displayed across the board were two names Shirayuki would have never thought to see together: _Hinata Hyuuga vs Kabuto Yakushi_.

There was something there was bothering her, Orochimaru didn't exist in this timeline. Or at least he hadn't shown himself like he did in canon, but Kabuto was obviously here. What does this say about her? What does this say about what she originally knew? _What the fuck was happening anymore?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preview
> 
> "HINATA!"
> 
> Neji stared down at his cousin before his eyes flickered over the girl who over time became one of this closest friends. Something was up with Shirayuki; There was way too much personal guilt written on her face and from what he knew, Shirayuki wasn't that close to Hinata. But at this very moment when his cousin was bleeding out on her deathbed, it seems matters were taken personally. Neji frowned, it was not Hinata's fault that his father died. She shouldn't have to pay for it, and as Shirayuki said, everything happened for a reason. Maybe, it wasn't her fate to die just yet... Or was it?
> 
> -
> 
> Filler, Side Story #1: The Love of a Girl
> 
> Yuri Nakamura was an inquisitive child with a group of tightly-knitted friends she would die for. She was always brash, had a dirty mouth and was scolded more often than not. However, there was someone Yuri admired more so than anyone else, it was the goddess to her heart. So she claims. Said goddess was none other than Shirayuki Nara.
> 
> It happened one day when Yuri was walking down the shopping district. Her mother had asked for her to buy three boxes of tea along with several cartons of milk (heaven knows why the woman wanted it). Then, halfway through her errand, Yuri had the displeasure of seeing another Shinobi bullying someone. Just as Yuri was about to intervene, someone sends the man flying and crashing through the dirt.
> 
> Yuri gaped because whoever it was, was beautiful. She stood taller than many girls, hair longer than most and facial expression pulled into one of those cocky, condescending faces. Then instead of continuing to beat the shit of the other, the girl just smirked and started talking him down.
> 
> "Hey, you moron," The goddess drawled, "Which part of you abysmally foolish organ you called brain decided that bullying a child about pricing was a good idea just because you didn't do jack shit and end up not getting paid?"
> 
> That was it, Yuri grinned, she was in love.
> 
> "You! Do you know who my father is?! He's a Jou—" The man started, bragging like one of those wannabes Yuri saw, only to get interrupted by the girl.
> 
> "Oh, you mean just another Shinobi who should be taking orders from Hokage-sama? Hm, sounds familiar. Oh I know," The girl grinned vindictively, "Sounds like every other Shinobi I've met."
> 
> "My father will have your head!"
> 
> "Try it. I'd be welcome to all your hostile advances," The girl said, then added for good measure Yuri supposed, "You imbecile."
> 
> The man ended up running with his tails between his legs. Yuri, for an instance, though that the girl would just run off after the display. But to her surprise, she had not. She turned towards the little boy who had been sobbing moments ago and patted his head, "Hey, kid. What did that dude break? Let me pay for it."
> 
> "Nee-san! You were so cool!" The kid blabbered then flushed, "You don't need to pay for anything."
> 
> "Sure I do. That guy's a Shinobi, and he's my responsibility as of the moment because that was my fight. And you go on selling and making it through school, alright?" She grinned. Yuri shit you not, she was possibly going to cry in blessed relief if the girl even talked to her.
> 
> "Oh, okay. My name is Sousuke, Sousuke Yuen!" The boy introduced. Yuri watched carefully as the girl grinned before introducing, "Shirayuki Nara. A pleasure to meet you."
> 
> "Ah, So-kun!"
> 
> And the mother arrived. Yuri trailed her eyes to the goddess who rejected any form of compensation before grinning. That next day when she arrived at school, she greeted her group and friends and announced.
> 
> "Guys, I'm in love!"
> 
> Her announcement was followed by multiple people choking.
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: Hello! I managed to finish this shit up by today, I was working on paragraphing, mostly. I had a lot of problems with fabricating what type of person Shikamaru was during a fight. And well, I needed to change the perspective often. I can't just write this from Shirayuki's perspective, that'll just be boring. 
> 
> Finally, I'm amazed by the number of people who are willing to enslave Shirayuki xD Funny, haha. Here's another question, then.
> 
> You're stuck in the room with three people: Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, and Itachi Uchiha. All three of them are geniuses of their own generation, you're allowed to take one thing from each person. Either someone's talent, personality, or reputation.
> 
> To make it clear, for example, I wish to have Minato's reputation, Kakashi's personality, and Itachi's Talent. That's how the question works, the question is optional. You don't have to answer if you do not wish to :)


	19. Burden

This chapter is dedicated to: 

[NotYourDamsel5339](https://www.quotev.com/NotYourDamsel5339)

* * *

Shirayuki frowned, she didn't know what to do. It wasn't as if she spoke much to Hinata, which was a huge problem in this case, and she can't use Neji as an excuse to talk to her either; Everyone knew just how much Neji disliked the main branch family, especially Hinata's father whom he blames for the death of his father. That's a dead end, so nope.

"Do you think she can handle him?" Shirayuki asked, looking at her teammates every so often. Naruto pursed his lips, "He's got a bad feeling, right? I think she can as long as she's careful."

"I think not, " Sasuke cut in sharply, "She needs to forfeit as soon as possible. Hinata, if you realise, hates hurting people for some stupid reason."

"Don't be so mean to her, " Naruto scowled. Shirayuki shook her head, "No, he's right. Hinata is emotionally weak, she won't be a good ninja unless she manages to pick herself up. She needs to see that if she doesn't hurt others to protect then she's only going to end up being a liability to those around her."

Shirayuki held a hand up to shut Naruto up before he could cut in, "I'm not being unnecessarily judgemental, Naruto. I'm saying as I see, from what I can see is that she'd be as great as a Ninja can be so long her heart is in the right place. You were there, Naruto, at the Wave Mission."

There was silence and Shirayuki took it as a sign to continue.

"If she had been there in place of, say, me. Do you truly think the mission could've gone the way it had been? No, we all know how cruel life as a Shinobi is. Hinata needs to pick herself up, " Shirayuki paused, noticing how Naruto look so guilt-ridden and pale by now, "Or she'll die and bring everyone down with her.

"I'm not saying I agree, " Naruto muttered unhappily under his breath, "But those are valid points."

"Just admit she's right, Naruto, " Sasuke sighed, leaning back against the wall. Naruto made a non-committable noise at that, obviously, he was not happy with the turn of events. Shirayuki grimaced a little, eyes still fixed on both genins who were standing face to face.

"Begin!"

* * *

Neji Hyuuga wasn't an idiot, thank you very much. He was, as of the moment, terribly suspicious of Shirayuki. Not in an 'I know you're a mass murderer' kind of way but rather one of 'Something is wrong with you and I will find out'. It was as if she wasn't even trying to hide the fact she was bothered by something.

 _Was she bothered by the fact_ _Hinata_ _was asked to fight?_

That's... highly illogical. Neji was the one who was close to Shirayuki, not Hinata. He had the right to feel jealous, it wasn't as if he harboured any feelings towards the Nara but Neji was extremely proud to say Shirayuki was his _only good_ friend. Tenten _fancied_ him and Lee was more of someone he associated with simply because they were teammates.

Yes, he had the damn right to feel jealous if Shirayuki was somehow feeling concerned over Hinata whom she had never talked to before. However, that doesn't dispute the fact Shirayuki was seemingly showing caution, guilt, and concern over Hinata when she was going against someone who failed the exam seven times.

Okay, maybe he was a little suspicious. For someone who seemed to failed loads of times, Kabuto Yakushi didn't hesitate to stay during the first exam when Ibiki Morino manipulated people into thinking that this exam would be their last if they had failed the final question. That doesn't make the guy any less seeming weak, and his chakra coils were sheltered¹.

Neji was making too much fuss over this. He was just going to stay, watch his cousin get beaten (or by chance end up winning), and then confront Shirayuki about it after the exam was over. That sounded like a good plan.

Satisfied with his decision, Neji turned his attention back to the match. Grimacing, Neji stared down at his docile cousin who was slightly trembling from where she stood.

"Pathetic," Neji mumbled, careful not to let anyone hear what he said. Not that it would surprise anyone, everyone seemed to be entitled to their own opinion of his dislike over Hinata anyways.

She ducked the first few hits but Neji was more focused on the fact Hinata's opponent feels... deliberately sloppy. As if he was being shitty on purpose, Neji paid a closer look and finally caught onto something. All the areas he targeted were vital, missing it barely. In other words, Kabuto Yakushi was likely someone who knew exactly what he was doing. Frankly speaking, Neji wouldn't even be surprised if Kabuto Yakushi was just a Chunin (Or Jounin) planted into the test. The skills he displayed was good, much higher than average Genin standard- Especially since he failed the test seven times.

 _First strike_.

Two hits from the side, one connected- Neji activated his Byakugan silently, focusing on the part which hit before recoiling in surprise. The entire side was technically speaking, _paralyzed._ But it wasn't the case, the pathways were slightly blocked but the chakra could still seep through in minor quantities. Neji frowned, was Kabuto a medical ninja? It might explain his superb skills in chakra pathways for Neji had never once seen someone other than a Hyuuga being so precise in directing chakra pathways; A medical ninja might be able to do so if they have been training specifically to do that, Neji didn't know Kabuto enough to assume so either.

He hated not knowing things.

Neji tore his gaze away from the match before seeking out his friend, determined to at least get something out from her.

Before he had managed to arrive at his destination, a sickening noise resounded throughout the stadium and Neji pinned his gaze upon the prone form of his cousin. Hinata had the front of her palm angled in a way usually impossible for a human being and her screams were silenced while expression twisted into agony. Neji's eyes flickered over the girl who over time became one of this closest friends. Something was up with Shirayuki; There was way too much personal guilt written on her face and from what he knew, Shirayuki wasn't that close to Hinata. But at this very moment when his cousin was bleeding out on her deathbed, it seems matters were taken personally. Neji frowned, it was not Hinata's fault that his father died. She shouldn't have to pay for it, and as Shirayuki said, everything happened for a reason. _Maybe, it wasn't her fate to die just yet... Or was it?_

Was he cruel enough to leave her to some bastard's mercy? No, he wasn't. Hinata wasn't the reason his father died, Neji thought bitterly, no matter how much he wished it to blame his cousin or uncle for it- Neji knew his father was selfless enough to give up his own life for his brothers. Even if it means giving up a life with his son. Somehow, Neji couldn't help but just resent his father a little bit for that because he really wanted to have a life with his father. His mother died when he was young so was it that selfish for him to wish that his father had stayed, even for him? No use being melodramatic about the past, Neji sighed. Shirayuki would probably say something like 'Shove that angst up your ass' if she heard about his internal monologue.

"Gai-sensei," Neji called out, walking towards his teacher, "Will you allow my cousin to forfeit?"

"Neji?" Gai furrowed his brows, slightly confused at his behaviour. Neji didn't fault the man because this was out of character even for himself, "Hinata will die at this rate, both her arms are already paralyzed."

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Shirayuki grimaced at the sudden influx of emotions bubbling within her, she needed to learn how to hide them and fast. It definitely wasn't good for her to wear them on her sleeves when people surrounding her wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of them. However, Shirayuki could concur to the fact she was more than just a little worried about Hinata's life. Her opponent was _Kabuto fucking Yakushi_ , wasn't he supposed to have already fucked off by now? Had she fucked this entire universe up so completely that the change has already begun to show? She should've died, killed herself if this was the case. If Sakura had been on the team like intended, none of this rubbish would have happened.

Yes, she was _angsting_ but sue her, she was bloody terrified right now. How was she going to help, _what the fuck was her foreknowledge supposed to be of use to when nothing applied?_

 _Breathe, Anya_ , Shirayuki told herself, unknowingly slipping back to her original persona, _This isn't the end of the world. You lived your last life without any foreknowledge, you can live this one without._

 _But your last life didn't involve any murders like this one now, did it?_ A snide voice spat out at the back of her mind. Shirayuki forced herself to swallowed back the bile of self-doubt, loathe, and disbelief. This wasn't just a story, she would keep telling herself. People died because she had the knowledge but no power to stop it. Characters she once read in books were now people who would lay their lives down for her so _fucking snap out of it Anastasia Charlotte Walker!_

Okay, Shirayuki breathed in harshly, she was calm. She could do this.

"We need to get Hinata out of there," Shirayuki said.

"What? No! This is her fight! We can't just..." Naruto trailed off, trying to find the right words, " _Intervened._ "

"Yeah, well she's going to _die_ if we don't _intervene_ ," Shirayuki snapped, not for the first time wondering exactly how much she had fucked this universe twice over.

"How would you know? No, wait," Sasuke cut himself off, pinching the bridge of his nose before turning to look, "Okay, _fine_. She's going to _die_ if we don't help, that's a problem. But there's a bigger fish to fry."

"What?"

" _How are we get her out?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> "We have a problem," said Anko to a very concerned Hokage. She looked visibly worn out with her hair slightly flatter than usual and face looking strained. The Hokage was immediately alarmed, even if he hadn't shown it outwardly.
> 
> "What is it?" asked the Hokage.
> 
> "Break in. ANBU caught news of a declaration of war, fractions have already been dispersed into the village but no one knows who," Anko then pushed a kunai towards the Hokage, a grimace plastered across her face, "There is a prime suspect."
> 
> "Who?" The Hokage didn't wish to believe it was who he thought it was. He flipped the weapon in his hands, desperately wondering how one man could turn out this way. True to his deduction, Anko proceeds to tell him the name of the one person he didn't want to meet.
> 
> "Orochimaru."
> 
> -
> 
> Filler: Fan Club of one Shirayuki Nara
> 
> Her twin brother, Yaeta, did a spit take, "What do you mean you fell in love?"
> 
> Yuri smiled almost in a daze, "Her hair was as dark as night, eyes bright like the rainclouds-"
> 
> "Spare me from your disgusting poetics," Yaeta cut in sharply, "You mean to tell me you just fell for someone?"
> 
> "You like a girl?" Naomi, one of her best friends, demanded with wide eyes of disbelief. Yuri scowled, "I didn't just fell for someone. I have better standards than that rubbish. She's a goddess, the one and only Shirayuki Nara."
> 
> Someone choked. Yuri turned only to find one of her male classmates, Keigo, standing right behind her. He heaved once before staring at her seriously, "You fell in love with my head of house?"
> 
> "What?"
> 
> "My name," Keigo looked up to the sky as if they had wronged him in some way, "Is Keigo Nara. Shirayuki Nara is the princess of our clan."
> 
> "Dude, seriously?" Yaeta made a face, "Is she like those damsel we know?"
> 
> Keigo choked on his laughter, "Damsel he says, Yaeta- Shirayuki-hime is the furthest thing from a damsel." He paused, "You would probably be the damsel in that scenario."
> 
> "Oh."
> 
> "You know Shirayuki-sama?" Yuri, however, was more delighted by the fact someone among her classmates knew who her goddess was. Keigo made a face, "You can say that. Shirayuki-hime doesn't really go out her way to socialize. She has a soft spot with the kids and gets along on some level with people. Oh but she's so kind."
> 
> "I know right?" Yuri beamed, "I saw her helping a kid in the market! She didn't even ask for anything in return."
> 
> Keigo nodded seriously, "Yes, Shirayuki-hime does that a lot. She would tell these stories to children about a deer who lost his mother and has to survive, or a boy who is the child of a god."
> 
> "That's amazing!"
> 
> Yaeta swiftly took several steps away from these people, no need to associate himself with fanboys and girls. Nope. Not going there.
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: Hello, miss me? Welcome to the most disappointing chapter of the entire book. I happen to find this chapter absolutely revolting but unfortunately, I am unable to come up with anything even remotely better than this chapter thus you have this here. While some parts are rather unsatisfactory, I am a little pleased with the majority of the chapter. If you hate this chapter, found it boring, or felt that it didn't have the usual vibe to it then it's fine. I do hope you'd be willing to stay for the other chapters even if this one was utter bullshit. On another note, have you seen the beautiful picture attached? Those are drawings that I love and adore, they're the only redeemable thing about this chapter. Anyways, tell me (honestly) about your opinion on this chapter. Please, thank you. Have a nice day :)


	20. Notice

Hinata felt broken, she felt drained, and she wanted nothing more than for the pain to end. But when had what she said mattered? She wasn't strong enough to stand up for herself and she didn't want to hurt people.  Did she get a choice to choose whether she wanted to be a Kunoichi? No, she didn't. But where was she now? Alone, on the field with both her arms paralyzed. She wanted to be strong, meaning she can't give up.  
  
Hinata sobbed so hard that it was starting to hurt. She wanted this to stop, she didn't want to feel any more pain. Just then, Hinata decided to accept the fact she was nothing but a failure to the fullest. She carefully managed to forcefully open her chakra pathways, wincing at every move as she raised her arm, getting ready to forfeit. Kabuto watched her, smug and satisfied. Hinata felt worse than ever, she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to risk a chance of seeing her father's disappointed face if he had been present.  
  
No one spoke, not even her opponent. Then, "DON'T GIVE UP, HINATA! YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"  
  
Hinata jerked, wide eyes turning to Naruto who had a wide grin stretched across his tanned face and hands cupped around his mouth. Her heart gave a loud thrum, her arms began to regain its feeling and Hinata felt the smallest of fire trying to light itself from her very core. She opened her mouth slightly, unable to comprehend the fact her idol believed in her.  
  
"KICK HIS ASS, HINATA! DON'T LET THE BASTARD GET YOU DOWN!" Hinata's mouth was slightly more opened than usual because Shirayuki, the girl who was so strong and always so sure shouted out loud. They weren't even close, Hinata admired the girl for her ability to stand for herself and yet Shirayuki was encouraging her.  
  
"YOU'RE STRONGER THAN HIM, HINATA-CHAN!" Lee, a teammate of Neji-nii-sama shouted enthusiastically.  
  
"FIGHT, HINATA" Kiba grinned, waving both hands in the form of cheer. Shino nodded along, "Show him what Team 8 is all about." Akamaru even barked along. Hinata felt incredulous because... everyone was cheering for her to fight.  
  
"FIGHT!" Tenten shouted. Hinata remembered her as another teammate of Neji-nii-sama. Slowly, Hinata started to move up. She began to straighten herself up, her eyes turned back to Kabuto who looked gobsmacked. Hinata could feel tears running down her face, she sniffled a little and turned to stare at Kabuto.  
  
"I will win," she declares softer than ever, not like someone who was suddenly given such fire for determination, "I will walk away as the winner."  
  
Hinata saw a shadow of a smirk on Kabuto before a gentle smile was painted over once again, "Let's continue, then."

* * *

"We have a problem," said Anko to a very concerned Hokage as soon as she appeared in the room. She looked visibly worn out what with her hair being slightly flatter than usual and face looking rather strained. The Hokage was, of course, immediately alarmed, even if he hadn't shown it outwardly.  
  
"What is it?" asked the Hokage, drumming his fingers against the wooden table in order to loosen the tension in his body.  
  
"Break in. ANBU caught news of a declaration of war, fractions have already been dispersed into the village but no one knows who," Anko then pushed a kunai towards the Hokage, a grimace plastered across her face, "There is a prime suspect."  
  
"Who?" The Hokage didn't wish to believe it was who he thought it was. He flipped the weapon in his hands, desperately wondering how one man could turn out this way. True to his deduction, Anko proceeds to tell him the name of the one person he didn't want to meet.  
  
"Orochimaru."  
  
The Hokage leaned back and released a miserable sigh. He gestured for Anko to continue, wanting to know how quickly are they able to rid of this new problem. Anko blanched a little, pushing a scroll towards the Hokage, "We have reasons to believe Sound and Sand have joined forces..."  
  
"To declare war against us. That was the whole reason for the joint Chunin Exam," the Hokage tilted his hat downwards, "I should've known."  
  
"What are your orders, Hokage-sama?"  
  
"Tell them Code Red," the Hokage declared, pushing himself to stand, "And spread the news for a council meeting."  
  
"Understood."

* * *

Shirayuki felt like something in her completely broke because of all people today, Hinata Hyuuga won against Kabuto Yakushi. It was surreal but without a doubt, Shirayuki bore witness to when Hinata first hit the pressure point of Kabuto out of sheer chance before he went crumpling. She wasn't knowledgeable enough to know exactly what she did but Hinata completely paralysed Kabuto in a matter of seconds before falling to her knees.

  
The crowd was silent, no one really believed what was happening in front of them. Then, it was Naruto who broke the damn.  
  
"YOU DID IT HINATA!" he yelled into the arena, voice resounding like the sound of waves in the ocean. It was a clear thing and everyone could hear the sincerity in his voice, of how happy he was. Shirayuki was reminded, in that instance, just who this story was. This wasn't her story, nor was it Sasuke's. This was Naruto's story and regardless of how much she meddled, Shirayuki realised that Naruto will always be that beacon of light shining in the darkness.  
  
God, she didn't even like poetry, why was she even waxing poetics in her mind?  
  
"Hinata is amazing," Shirayuki grinned at the scene, even as Hinata was moved onto a stretcher she still had a bright smile on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks. Naruto was enthusiastic in his cheering, praises one after another came flowing out of his mouth as natural as the colour of the sky. Then, it was time for the next fight.  
  
Shirayuki blinked at the board in confusion because this couldn't be right. Her memory wasn't that bad but she was quite sure something was wrong with the names. Because never once has she even heard of the name and yet there it was displayed proudly on the board as the crowd cheering died down.  
  
 _Rin Hoshigaki vs Kiba Inuzuka_  
  
Never once had Shirayuki heard of the name Hoshigaki aside from Kisame, she could've been remembering things wrong but was there even a Hoshigaki in the Chunin Exams? The girl walked out with tinted blue skin and dark red hair. She had very sharp eyes and features that were incredibly exotic on someone who had blue skin. Shirayuki blinked as a sudden thought hit her.  
  
Could it be that she was arrogant to think that she herself was the sole person who died and got thrown into a fictional world?  
  
The girl, Rin, ignored Kiba before focusing Shirayuki. She fixed her gaze, never once flinching even as she sheathed her sword. Then, a smirk painted itself across Rin's face before she opened her mouth and spoke, **"Washington DC."**  
  
Shirayuki felt her blood run cold because that confirmed more than one thing, the sentence was spoken in a perfect American accent and this girl was the reason why a lot of things were canon anymore. Shirayuki took a minuscule step back in hesitation before the faux superior mask she adopted made its appearance. Her eyes narrowed and looked at Rin, **"London."**  
  
Rin's smirk widened as if something was confirmed. She slammed her sword on the ground, denting it before flipping her red hair over her shoulders. She reached down for her pouch and pulled something out. A familiar book, the same one Akage published, was brought into view and it was tossed onto the floor.  
  
 **"Surprised to see that you're not the only one here? I was surprised to see that someone messed up all my plans,"** And with that she turned her attention back to the match. Shirayuki scowled, wondering what the other could mean. Her mind worked itself, trying to figure Rin out while at the same time digesting the idea that she wasn't the only one dropped into a fictional world.  
  
 _...messed up all my plans._  
  
 _...Orochimaru wasn't here._  
  
 _...Kabuto didn't resign._

... oh.  
  
That was when it all made sense. Shirayuki felt so stupid for not realising before, all evidence was displayed right in front of her, dangling before her face and yet never once she made a connection simply because she had been arrogant. There was a reason why Naruto had been top trending series, and if anyone could've been dropped into a fictional world then not everyone would've kept the knowledge a secret.

 _Meaning Rin Hoshigaki used the knowledge to help the other side._  
  
Shirayuki suddenly felt very alone in this world. 

* * *

Someone stood outside an oak door, long hair nearly touching the ground and a beautiful kimono-clad around their form. The clogs worn on their feet made a rhythmic beat as they walked down a tatami corridor. As if someone was calling, their heads jerked up to look at the sun, revealing a startling shade of grey.

“Fujiwara-sama? Yureka-hime wants you to tell her the story.”

“Oh,” a soft voice called out before the figure glanced back down from the sun at his servant. He had a kind smile on his face, “Did she say which one she wanted?”

“I think she said something about a boy with a contract with an demon?”

“Ah…”

.

.

“Itachi,” a deep voice called out, drawing the attention from the once shinobi of the greatest shinobi village. Sharingan eyes flashed over to where the owner of the voice stood and seemed to voice out a silent question.

The person jerked their head towards the door, “We have to go soon. Kisame is already waiting.”

Itachi made a move, careful not to make any sudden sounds. He then looked at his senior, someone whom Itachi thought shouldn’t belong with the Akatsuki, “...Will you teach me how to play ‘chess’ again later?” he asked quietly.

His senior merely gave a kind smile, reminding Itachi of his own mother, “Of course, Itachi-kun.”

.

.

"Gah! I'm bored!" A girl complained with a miserable sigh. She propped against the chair with a put off expression before her gaze shifted towards her friend who was just sitting in the room while reading a book by someone called _Akage_. She got off the chair before crawling over, leaning over to see exactly what he was reading.

The boy snapped his book shut with an unreadable expression on his face, "Ne, Chie-chan..."

"Hm?" She tilted her head, wondering what was up with her friend.

"So, remember that we're both... from another world?"

With that, Chie straightened herself up and blinked at him, "Yes, Yaku. I remember."

"I think this book was written by someone like us," Yaku said, handing the book over to Chie, "It's almost the exact same story as **Harry Potter**."

"Oh."

.

.

A boy frowned at the walls of his bedroom, trying to organize his thoughts. He steeled his gaze before throwing the last bit of rice ball into his mouth.

"Once the exams are over, I'll find a way to talk to her."

.

.

* * *

**Filler:** **Reborn as a Nara AU #1**

Anastasia Walked was twenty five when some sick fucker decided that it was a good idea to knock her unconscious while she was on her way home from work. That asshole didn't even have the decency to use chloroform, but had actually knocked her out with brute force and Anastasia was down.  
  
Disgraceful.   
  
When she woke up, her mind blanked. Around her were people speaking a language she had only heard while watching anime and twice without. They were speaking Japanese and Anastasia didn't understand them beyond the few words her stupid mind managed to grasp.  
  
 _"—woman—danger—"_  
  
 _"—fool—"_  
  
 _"—Who are you?"_  
  
Now that, she could understand. The man in front of her was blonde, eyes hard and mouth curled into a frown. Anastasia paused, how the fuck do you even communicate in a place where language barriers were almost at its peak of problems.  
  
She decided to winged it.  
  
"Look, I don't understand you," Anastasia began, silently pleased with herself when the men surrounding her started to have blank faces. The blonde one looked resigned before looking towards an old man who was all the way at the back of the room.  
  
Anastasia looked on blankly, something about these people were familiar. And that was when she really took notice to what they wore, what they looked like and what her surroundings showed. God, no. This was impossible, highly illogical. Even the most reasonable explanation for this by logical terms sounds so far fetched that if someone were to say Anastasia's mother miraculously recovered from cancer, it might have been a more believable choice.  
  
She was now in a fictional world, there was no doubt. Her mind might have subconsciously denied all thoughts but Anastasia could have sworn she heard someone called Hokage-sama. Holy shit, fuck, she was in Naruto.  
  
Then a heavily scarred man walked closer, he pointed at himself, _"Shikaku."_  
  
Oh, right. They want to communicate, so does she. Ah, screw her stupid, miserable life. This sucked big, hairy, baboon balls. The introduction continued when the man pointed at the blonde one, _"Inoichi."_  
  
 _"Ibiki." "Hokage-sama."_  
  
"Anastasia," She responded, pointed at herself. Shikaku was shown to be curious, "Anna... Sta-syasu?"  
  
Wince. Okay, now she could feel the pain of other people who has their name butchered up beyond belief. Anastasia frowned, "Anya."  
  
"Anya." Oh, they got that right. Anastasia nodded, showing that they got that name right. Shikaku looked pleased before he glanced back at the Hokage. Anastasia couldn't see the exchange that well, but she was sure some sort of permission was given. The next thing she knew was that Shikaku pointed at himself and then he held up his hands. One showed three fingers while the other showed one.  
  
...Was that his age? It has to be, right? There was no way he was telling her something like his birthday or some other bullshit. Tentatively, Anastasia held out two fingers on one hand and five on the other.  
  
They spoke again, in Japanese way too quick for her to keep up with. She managed to catch snippets of the conversation, something about her being twenty five (was that even what Ni juu go meant?) and her to be called Anya.  
  
 _"Do you understand us?"_  
  
Someone asked. Anastasia perked up and responded with one of the few sentences she could speak perfectly in, _"I understand Japanese a little."_  
  
There was a whisper before Shikaku (Was he Shikamaru's father? The hairstyle was the same...) asked something. He spoke really slowly and clearly, as if talking to a child. While Anastasia appreciate the effort, she hated the feeling.  
  
That was her pride talking, wasn't it?  
  
"Can you tell us why you're here?" Or at least that's about the gist of what she understood. She could only confirmed why you're here but that should be roughly what he's asking, no?  
  
"I don't know," Anastasia responded truthfully. No point lying (why would she even?) to the professionals, the truths are always better than lies. Shikaku pointed at Inoichi and the blonde man walked closer. Anastasia got wary, what was happening now? Her answer came when a hand seal was formed and she was knocked back into her mindscape.  
  
 _ **Which was a fucking weird thing.**_  
  
"Can you understand me now?" A deep voice asked. Anastasia looked back in surprise and nodded, yes she can understand. And God, her mind was a library with shelves standing tall enough for her to miss the top and space cold and dark.  
  
"Great. Your mind is a very organized place," Inoichi commented. Anastasia nodded, "Thank you? I can't exactly do anything and I have absolutely no idea why my mind is so. Would you mind to tell me how you came to find me? I doubt I just appeared out of thin air."

Inoichi coughed, "I apologize but that was exactly how we found you."  
  
"No," Anastasia gaped in horror, "You mean I just dropped onto the floor or something? Fuck, this was bad. That's probably why my back hurts so much."  
  
"You think like my friend," Inoichi said before pausing, "Just to confirm, you'll be called Anya and you're twenty five?"  
  
"Yes, anything else you'd like to know?" Anastasia asked, pushing all panicked thoughts away. And wasn't that weird? Being panic in your own mind scape.  
  
"Well, not much at the moment. Do you want to tell us anything?" Inoichi asked. Oh no, Anastasia thinks, I have too much to tell you.  
  
"I think it would be better for me to tell in person. Give me a month or two to learn the language," Anastasia requested. Inoichi looked skeptical, "I need you to answer a few questions."  
  
A nod.  
  
"Are you a spy?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Will you do any harm to Konoha."  
  
"No."  
  
"That's all," Inoichi conceded. Anastasia frowned for a moment, why would he believe just her word? Then she grimaced, "I can't lie while I'm in here, can I?"  
  
"No," The happy reply. Oh jesus, sweet baby Jesus, she needed a drink.  
  
"Alright, let's wake me up," Anastasia mumbled, "God that was weird to say."  
  
Then she woke up and everything seems so much more complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:
> 
> Shirayuki wondered since when the idea that she wasn't the only one who came from another world was drowned away. It seemed so far fetched in the beginning but she always had the idea at the back of her head that she wasn't the only one in this world. Sure, she wasn't the most morally inclined person but Shirayuki knew for a fact that she would never help someone who does experiments on living human. She knew she was a good person, she felt guilty for the death of all those Uchiha, didn't she?
> 
> Then, why does it feel as if she failed everything?
> 
> -
> 
> A/N: Hello, I'm not dead? Here's a new update and will be the only one for quite some time. I'm on another examination period and I need to focus cough so have fun with this chapter? Do tell me what you think. To those who're still following my story, thank you very much. I'm forever grateful. Bear with me, thank you.


End file.
